Parashat Noach - The Secret of the Korbanot and the Power of the Good Eye

The Secret of Reciting the Korbanot and the Hidden Holy Temple

A person must know that when he recites the "Korbanot" (sacrifices) in prayer, he must picture the entire Holy Temple before his eyes. The entire Holy Temple is here! It was not burned! It was not destroyed! The Holy Temple stands right before our eyes! It is right in front of us! Nothing was burned! Nothing! The burning of the Holy Temple was merely an optical illusion! It was an illusion only for the gentiles!

The "Asarah Maamarot" says that at the time of the destruction of the Holy Temple, spirits and demons arrived and brought stones with them! Burnt limestone! They placed burnt limestone in the Holy Temple! Everything was for the gentiles, all to satisfy the eyes of the wicked.

The Zohar (Shemot, Pekudei 240b) says: The stones and foundations of the First Temple and the Second Temple are all hidden and shining! They were all hidden away!

The Holy Temple was not blemished in the slightest! Not even a single stone was lost! Not one stone from the stones of Jerusalem was lost! Not from the Jerusalem of the First Temple, nor from the Jerusalem of the Second Temple, everything stands in its place! "For eye to eye they will see when Hashem returns..." When the Geulah (Redemption) comes, everyone will see that the gentiles did not destroy any wall at all! Not a single wall! And all that the gentiles destroyed was only those limestones that the spirits brought with them; everyone will see that it was all just an optical illusion.

Therefore, the "Emek HaMelech" says regarding the Gemara:

"I have heard that sacrifices are offered even though there is no Holy Temple" (Megillah 10a)

He says – know this! The service of the Korbanot certainly continues! The Holy Temple is here! The Korbanot are here! The services continue! Eliyahu HaNavi offers sacrifices in the Holy Temple! The angel Michael offers sacrifices in the Holy Temple! As it is brought down regarding the Baal Shem Tov, that he saw Eliyahu HaNavi buying sheep for the service of the Holy Temple.

When we recite the "Korbanot" in the morning, we give strength to Eliyahu HaNavi and the angel Michael, who are now the High Priests, to continue offering the sacrifices. By reciting the Korbanot, we literally participate in the service of the Holy Temple. When we begin to recite the Korbanot, the Kohanim begin the sacrificial service; the Kohanim begin the work! They ignite the Chatat (sin offering), they ignite the Tamid (daily offering). When we recite the Korbanot, Eliyahu HaNavi and the angel Michael receive the strength to continue the sacrificial service.

Atonement for Sins and Self-Sacrifice in Reciting the Korbanot

When a person sins, there is impurity! And the impurity reaches all the way to the Foundation Stone (Even Shetiyah)! To the Holy Temple! From the impurity, the Holy Temple is destroyed! Therefore, we say in the "Korbanot":

"And their blood requires sprinkling between the staves and upon the Parochet (curtain)..."

The impurity reached between the staves! To the Parochet! Until it burned the Holy Temple, it was burned. "And their blood requires sprinkling upon the Parochet, upon the Golden Altar..." Why is there no Parochet? Why is there no Golden Altar? It is all because we defile the Holy Temple every time. A person opened his eyes [to forbidden sights], so he defiled everything! There is no Golden Altar! There is no Altar of the Burnt Offering! There are no courtyards! There is nothing!

Therefore, when a person recites the Korbanot, he must direct all his intentions toward himself! "The bulls that are burned and the he-goats that are burned..." I deserve to be burned! I am the burned bulls! The entire concept of the Korbanot is to subjugate the animalistic nature! The animal is burned and slaughtered. When we mention the slaughtering and the burning in the Korbanot... then they are slaughtering me, they are burning me.

The Rebbe writes in his Torah:

"And he shall slaughter it on the north side of the altar before Hashem..."

When saying "And he shall slaughter it," one must intend that right now he is being slaughtered! He is being slaughtered for all the sins he committed, and he must accept upon himself the four death penalties of the Beit Din: stoning, burning, decapitation, and strangulation. Through this intention, all his sins are forgiven. Tanna Debei Eliyahu says: Whether a gentile or a Jew, even a gentile who recites the verse "And he shall slaughter it on the side of the altar..." will have all his sins forgiven, and how much more so a Jew.

When reciting about the flaying and cutting into pieces, completely for the fires, one must direct it all toward himself! They ignite the Chatat, they flay the Tamid—this is all directed at me! They are flaying me! They are cutting me! They are burning me! The Guilt Offering, the Thanksgiving Offering, the Peace Offerings—it is all directed at me, to burn me, to cut me, to sprinkle my blood.

When one recites the Korbanot, he begins to break through all the kelipot (husks)! He begins to break through the kelipot of the World of Asiyah (Action), and everything is atoned for! And one must recite the Korbanot slowly, with self-sacrifice! When a person recites the "Korbanot," he breaks through the kelipot that he created! Just as in the Holy Temple, the morning Tamid offering would atone for the sins of the night, and the afternoon Tamid offering would atone for the sins of the day. So too, when a person mentions the morning Tamid in the Korbanot, it atones for his sins of the night, and when he mentions the afternoon Tamid, it atones for his sins of the day.

A Necessary Condition for the Acceptance of Prayer

A person commits sins twenty-four hours a day; he has an endless number of sins! He needs to accept upon himself decapitation, strangulation, burning, and stoning for these sins. If a person did not recite the Korbanot with intention, then he has accomplished nothing! Hashem says – why are you coming to Me!? "Give me this... give me that..." First, do teshuvah (repentance)! First, ask for forgiveness for everything you did over the past twenty-four hours! You brought impurity into the space of the world! Forbidden thoughts, forbidden sights.

Recite the Korbanot with intention! Have the intention during "the bulls that are burned" that "I am willing to be burned, I am willing to be stoned," have this intention! Recite the Korbanot out loud! Because the very fact that you accept upon yourself burning, decapitation, and strangulation, the very fact that you admit that you sinned, then everything is atoned for and the prayer is accepted.

Prayer begins with the recitation of the "Korbanot." The Zohar says – it is forbidden to skip the Korbanot! If a person did not recite the Korbanot, his prayer is not accepted! He did not break through the kelipot! He did not break through the barriers! Korbanot are the highest thing! The Korbanot come from Atika Kadisha, from Reisha D'lo Etyada. "The ascent of the sacrifice reaches to the Ein Sof"—Korbanot are infinite! It is forbidden to skip a single word of the Korbanot! One must arrive on time for prayer and recite the Korbanot word for word; otherwise, the Zohar says, the prayer does not ascend in any way! The prayer is not accepted.

Pnei Melech: The Secret of the Good Eye

When a person has an evil eye, then this is no good, and that is no good, and the other thing is no good, and it is impossible to illuminate within him the light of Hashem, the Godly point within him. When a person has an evil eye, that is where his troubles begin, because then the evil eye of others affects him. Yosef had a good eye, and therefore no evil eye affected him. But when he had a little bit of an evil eye toward his brothers, he was thrown into the pit.

When a person is connected to Hashem, and he does not need people, and he does not need them to say good things about him, and he does not wait for honor, and he is not jealous of people, then the evil eye of people does not take hold of him, because every species clings to its own kind! And if a person is pure, he only believes in Hashem, that everything is from Hashem, and whatever Hashem gives me is good, and whatever Hashem does not give me is also good, and I will ask Hashem to give to me, and I do not feel: "Oy, I don't have and the other person does, and why did this fate happen to me." When a person walks with a good eye, then an evil eye does not take hold of him at all. But since everyone has an evil eye, therefore the evil eye of others takes hold of him.

An evil eye begins with arrogance, because when there is arrogance, then "I deserve it," and "how is it that he has more than me?" If a person looks to the sides, then he will always have an evil eye! Because if he has this, then he doesn't have that, and if he has that, then he doesn't have something else. And then he always has someone to be jealous of. Because he is always lacking something that others have.

A person must strive for a state of - not needing creations. I don't care about other people. Not about their money, not about their honor, not about what they think of me, not about what they have, and not about what they don't have. I have no need for them for my soul - I need Hashem! I respect people, I host people, I work with people, I strengthen people, I am strengthened by people, I learn from people, everything. But I don't need them, I need Hashem! I don't look to the sides. This is difficult! That is why so many die from the evil eye.

And in truth, the tikkun (rectification) of the world is the good eye. David Mashiach, beautiful of eyes, with such good eyes; Shaul pursued him, others pursued him, and he did not touch them, and he did not blame them, and he was willing to accept the most difficult things, and he withstood all the tests and always looked at everyone with his good eyes. And even though only Mashiach will complete the tikkun (rectification) of the evil eye, none of us is exempt from doing everything we can in order to merit a good eye. And when there is a good eye, Hashem gives endless abundance.

Story for the Parashah: I Have Been Very Zealous for Hashem, the God of Hosts

The Gaon Rabbi Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld, who served as the Chief Rabbi of the Edah HaChareidit in Jerusalem, was known in Israel as an extreme zealot against those who abandoned the heritage of the forefathers - and he came out against them at every opportunity with words hewing flames of fire, and with vigorous moral rebukes. Once, distinguished guests from the Diaspora visited Rabbi Yosef Chaim. One of them asked the Rabbi: Why does our master incessantly rebuke many of our brethren, the Children of Israel? Is it not the way of tzaddikim to advocate for the good of Israel, and to judge them favorably before God and man?

The Jerusalemite Rabbi fixed his two wise eyes on the face of the questioner and said: Believe me, my masters and teachers, every single day I recite "Tehillim" and plead before the Creator of the Universe on behalf of all Israel - even the worst among them, who have distanced themselves for various reasons from the path of the forefathers. But all this is only between me and Hashem. However, when I turn to sinning and transgressing people, I must rebuke them and chastise them with harsh and sharp words, so that they will do teshuvah (repentance) while there is still time, and at the very least, refrain from trapping other people in their net...

Rabbi Yosef Chaim paused his vigorous words for a brief moment, and then concluded, saying: This path that I have taken all the days of my life is, in my humble opinion, the path of pure Chassidut: a vigorous demand from a person to mend his ways, and judging him favorably before Hashem, may He be blessed. (Bnei Tzion)

Story for the Parashah 2: And the Congregation of Hashem Shall Not Be Like Sheep That Have No Shepherd

It is told about the "Chafetz Chaim," zt"l, that a student who was diagnosed with a life-threatening illness once approached him to ask for a blessing. He told the "Chafetz Chaim" that the doctors had already given up on him, and told him and his family that they knew of no cure for his illness. The "Chafetz Chaim" listened to the young student and told him that he would give him advice for his illness, on the condition that he would never tell anyone about it. Of course, the student agreed immediately.

The "Chafetz Chaim" instructed him to go to a certain Torah scholar living in a small town, and he would give him a blessing. Indeed, the student did so. He immediately turned to that Torah scholar, and within a short period of time, unbelievably, he recovered from his illness. He continued his studies in the yeshiva, and eventually moved away from Radin, established a family, and as instructed, never told anyone about these events.

More than twenty years later, that student's sister-in-law fell ill with a mysterious illness, may it not happen to us. It soon became clear to him that she was suffering from the same illness he had suffered from in the past, but he immediately remembered his promise to the "Chafetz Chaim" not to tell anyone about the method of his healing, and therefore he said nothing to anyone. However, his wife, who remembered that he had once spoken about a mysterious illness he had suffered from in the past and recovered from, tried to get him to talk. But every time she spoke about it, he evaded the topic and refused to speak. The more he tried to obscure his words, the more his wife pressured him to speak, hoping that his secret would help save her sister's life.

And so his wife and also his sister-in-law continued, pleading with him every day to reveal to them what had happened to him and how he was healed, but he stood his ground and explained to them that it was a secret he was forbidden to reveal. Finally, his resistance weakened, and he thought logically that after so many years of fulfilling the warning of the "Chafetz Chaim," he could reveal his secret. And indeed, he told his wife what had happened to him, about his appearance before his rabbi and the advice of the tzaddik to go to a certain Torah scholar in a small town far from Radin. His wife and sister-in-law were filled with hope, thinking perhaps this would be their salvation.

However, shortly afterward, he suddenly began to feel ill. He was very frightened and told his wife that he must travel immediately to the "Chafetz Chaim." He made the long journey back to Radin to the "Chafetz Chaim," who was then old and weak. The "Chafetz Chaim" remembered their old meeting and listened quietly to the man's story. Then the "Chafetz Chaim" answered him, quietly and slowly: "I wish I could help you, but what can I do? When you had the illness the first time, I was young and I fasted for forty days for you so that you would be healed. Today I am already too old, and I cannot fast like I did then."

Dear Jews, pay attention. Not only did the "Chafetz Chaim" fast for forty days for the healing of that student, but he also set things up in such a way that it would appear as if the student was healed thanks to the blessing of another Torah scholar... These are the leaders of the people of Israel; praiseworthy is the people for whom this is so... (Lekach Tov)

A Prayer of the Afflicted