Last Night’s Lesson of the Holy Tzaddik Rabbi Eliezer Berland shlit"a — Wednesday Night, the 4th of Iyar, After Counting the Omer

Here is the full lesson from last night—after the Ma’ariv prayer and the Counting of the Omer together with our community:

Do not hesitate for even a moment to come help the Tzaddik

So today is nineteen days, which are [two weeks and five days]—Hod within Tiferes. Hod is Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai. Hod within Netzach will already be next week; today is Hod within Tiferes. And on Wednesday it will be Netzach within Netzach—Tuesday night. “Netzach within Netzach”—Rebbe Nachman said, “I have won, and I will win,” because everyone who draws close to Rebbe Nachman is a spark of Rebbe Nachman. And therefore it is written in Likkutei Halachos, Laws of Milah 4, that all righteous women are sparks of Queen Esther, of Devorah the Prophetess. Every woman today is a spark of Devorah the Prophetess, who defeated Sisera. “I have won, and I will win”—“From Heaven the stars fought” (Judges 5:20). All the stars came to help Devorah. All the stars fought for Devorah. The few stars that did not come were turned into black stars—“Curse Meroz, said the angel of Hashem” (ibid. 5:23). The angel curses whoever did not come to help the Tzaddik—whoever did not come to pray with the Tzaddik, to help the Tzaddik—the angel himself curses him. So, “Curse Meroz, said the angel of Hashem.” Devorah says: It was the angels who cursed them, not I. The angels cursed the stars that did not arrive, and they became black stars from which no light comes out. They cannot shine—because whoever is not with the Tzaddik has no merit to endure, no merit to shine in the world, to illuminate the earth. Only one who comes to the Tzaddik—to help the Tzaddik, to pray with the Tzaddik, to fight together with the Tzaddik. And the moment Barak hesitated—he only said to her, “You too, come with me.” He told you to go—so why aren’t you going!? You have already lost the merit to defeat Sisera: “Your glory will not be on the road… for into the hand of a woman Hashem will deliver Sisera” (ibid. 4:9)—because you hesitated. If a person hesitates—“Yes, I’ll go with the Tzaddik; no, I won’t go with the Tzaddik… maybe I’ll pray with the Tzaddik; maybe I won’t pray with the Tzaddik…” Even a slight hesitation—some tiny doubt—he wavers all day. Why does he waver? Because he stands out in arrogance: it doesn’t “fit” his honor to go with the Tzaddik. It’s not “respectable” for him to pray with the Tzaddik. Then he loses everything: he loses all his merits, he loses all his World to Come, he loses all his world in this life. Even to defeat Sisera he can’t—he can’t do anything. He has only a light wavering, one doubt about whether to listen to the Tzaddik—and then he is pushed away from everything, and they throw him outside.

The lesson begins at 1:04:46

The women did not sin and did not argue with the Tzaddik But all the women who were with Moshe Rabbeinu—because no woman sinned in the desert, not a single woman. Not the sin of the Golden Calf, and not the sin of the Spies. There were ten tests, ten sins—but the women did not sin. The women went with the Tzaddik; none of that mattered to them. “Moshe is a fraud, Moshe is a sorcerer… Moshe…” Korach explained: “Why do you raise yourselves above the congregation of Hashem?” (Numbers 16:3). “Why have you caused [the people] to die?” (ibid. 17:6). Suddenly the earth opened and they were all swallowed. Then he said: This is just some kind of magic—this is not from Hashem at all. The women were not impressed. The women knew that Moshe is the Tzaddik. They followed Moshe through fire and water! He split the sea, he brought the Ten Plagues, he brought them Torah from Heaven. Korach said: I can also bring down Torah from Heaven—what’s the problem? I’ll go up to Heaven and I’ll bring down Torah too. Moshe went up to Heaven—why did he go up to Heaven? Because everyone prayed, everyone crossed the sea; [so, כביכול, through the power of the community he brought down Torah, and this did not come from Moshe Rabbeinu’s own power]. Behold, for Dasan and Aviram the sea split; for Dasan and Aviram the sea split.

The Parashah of the Blasphemer What is the story with the blasphemer—why did the blasphemer suddenly begin to curse, all of a sudden? After all, the Midrash says—Midrash Rabbah—that the husband of Shlomis was Dasan. She had a pleasant husband, sweet, holy of holies. He only argued with the Tzaddik—that was his problem. But aside from that, he was a good, devoted husband. He washed dishes, scrubbed with a sponge, cooked all the cooking—while she sat peacefully saying Tehillim. He did everything for her—only one thing he did: he opposed the Tzaddik. That was Dasan; he was Shlomis’s husband. And of course, that child was not his child. And suddenly they were all swallowed into the earth—everyone, all at once—Dasan, Aviram, Korach, the children, the grandchildren, the great-grandchildren; even the great-grandchildren were swallowed into the earth, together with the women, together with the babies. One person was not swallowed into the earth: that was the blasphemer. The blasphemer was not swallowed. Everyone asked: Why weren’t you swallowed into the earth?! Why doesn’t the earth swallow you—why?! He said: I am holy of holies; I am a tzaddik. No—there is another reason for you, something… Come, let’s go to Moshe and ask him. They went to Moshe; Moshe told the whole truth. Immediately he began to curse. In truth, he thought he was Dasan’s son. He thought he belonged to the tribe of Reuven. He didn’t know the story at all. Suddenly the story was revealed—and immediately he cursed Moshe, the Tzaddik, and was pushed away from the Tzaddik. And that was the moment he needed to do teshuvah. That was the moment he could have become holy—great like Moshe. If he had held his ground, he would have risen to Moshe’s level. If he had accepted the humiliation with love, he would have risen to Moshe’s level—he could have become Moshe. Therefore it is written “vayikrov” (Leviticus 24:11)—it does not say “and he cursed.” “And he cursed” comes afterward [in the continuation of the verse]. “Vayikrov”—meaning he made a hole between the World of Yetzirah and the World of Asiyah. He drew down lights from the World of Atzilus—he was that great.

“Who and who are going?”—the Merkavah goes with you!

Because even the smallest woman was like Yechezkel ben Buzi. The Rambam brings, at the end of Hilchos Shemonah Perakim, chapter four, that even the smallest woman—even an Egyptian maidservant—at “This is my G-d and I will glorify Him” (Exodus 15:2), saw things greater than Yechezkel ben Buzi. So even the smallest person could see the Merkavah like Yechezkel. He knew the entire Merkavah. The whole issue of the blasphemer was that he wanted to actually see the Merkavah! So a person walks with the Merkavah. “Who and who are going?” (ibid. 10:8). But Pharaoh asked: Who is going with you? The lion of the Merkavah, the ox of the Merkavah, the eagle of the Merkavah—who is going with you? “Who and who are going?” They said: “With our youth and with our elders we will go” (ibid. verse 9). What does it mean? The entire Merkavah goes.

How many angels accompany a person in one week? It is written: “three hundred thousand myriads of lions.” It is written in the Zohar, Va’eschanan, on “And it was when Aharon traveled” (Numbers 10:35): When a person goes out on the road—traveling to the Tzaddik—then the lion of the Merkavah descends, the ox of the Merkavah, three hundred and seventy thousand myriads of lions, three hundred and fifty thousand eagles, three hundred and fifty thousand oxen—this is all angels. When a person goes out on the road, then: “For He will command His angels for you, to guard you in all your ways” (Tehillim 91:11). All the angels escort him—all the angels Above, all the angels of the Merkavah. And then we say “Shalom Aleichem.” And then on Friday, for another forty-eight hours, we need to sing “Shalom Aleichem.” We need to sing “Shalom Aleichem,” to bless all these angels that were created and that escort us all week. Because if a person learns twelve and a half hours, he creates sixty myriads of angels. Each hour he creates forty-eight thousand angels. Ten hours—four hundred and eighty thousand; another two and a half hours—another one hundred and twenty [thousand]. Four hundred and eighty [thousand] plus another one hundred and twenty [thousand]—that is six hundred thousand angels created every day. And these are the angels we “see”; we bless them when we come home to make Kiddush. Even before going home, one must say it—before going home. If we bless them in the synagogue, we bless all the angels we created. Every day we created six hundred thousand; over six days that is three million six hundred thousand angels—and all the angels escort us.

“So that it will go well for me because of you”—so that your angels will escort me And a woman is escorted by angels. Wherever the woman goes, the angels escort her—because a woman’s angels do not run away. As Avraham said to Sarah—this is brought in the Zohar, Tazria, page 52—Avraham said to Sarah… Avraham saw that Sarah’s angels did not flee. From him, all the angels fled—even from Avraham Avinu, who is the head of all the Avos, as we say “Magen Avraham.” He is the head of Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov. Yet the angels fled from him! The Zohar explains: because he went down to Egypt. Why are you going down to Egypt? Eat grass like everyone else. In a siege they ate grass, cooked grass; the women went into the fields, gathered herbs, and cooked them. Before Moshiach comes—another two hundred years—then everyone will go to the Syrian desert and eat grass there. For nine months they will rule here; Edom will rule the earth; they will need to flee to the Syrian desert to eat herbs. So it is written in the Gemara in Yoma, and in the Gemara in Sanhedrin—and there are ten Gemaras that say everyone will need to flee. So why are you running to Egypt? Eat grass like everyone else. Everyone manages; you too will manage. He went down to Egypt—and all his angels fled. But with Sarah, the angels remained. From a woman, the angels do not flee; they escort her. Therefore he says to her: “Please say you are my sister” (Genesis 12:13). He is speaking with the angel. He says: “Please say you are my sister, so that it will go well for me because of you.” “Because of you—because of you”: the angel that goes with you will guard me.

Everything a person has is in the merit of his wife

Because everything a person has is all in the merit of his wife—because his wife’s angels never leave her. Unless, of course, she commits sins. But a righteous woman who does not commit sins—then the angels go with her. Sixty myriads of angels go with her, for every step and wherever she goes. The angels escort her; they do not leave. From a man they leave him—the angels leave him—because he stumbles with forbidden sights, and then the angels flee from him. He hears a lesson, he goes outside, and he has lost all the angels. But from a woman—no. A woman’s angels go with her: sixty myriads of angels, wherever she goes. With every step, every day—sixty myriads of new angels. That is already three million six hundred thousand. The angels never leave her. Therefore he says to her: “So that it will go well for me because of you, and my soul will live because of you.” The Zohar says that Avraham’s angels left him, but Sarah’s angels did not leave her.