Parashat Toldot - The Secret of Elevating the Sparks and the Power of Waking for Chatzot

The entire work of the tzaddikim is to extract the sparks that are swallowed within the Sitra Achra, within the klipot (husks). And this is what is written about Yaakov Avinu:

"And his hand took hold of Esav's heel"

The word ekev (heel - עקב) shares the same letters as Akiva (עקיבא), for already while in his mother's womb, Yaakov began to draw out the soul of Rabbi Akiva which was swallowed in Esav's heel. The entire essence of Yaakov was to extract the souls from Esav's heel, for there the souls of converts were swallowed, the greatest souls.

And the highest time to elevate them is at midnight (chatzot laylah), as Rabbi Pinchas of Koritz says: There are such great souls, the greatest in the world! They fell from a high roof to a deep pit, they fell the deepest into the deepest depths of the klipot. And when the time of chatzot arrives, with every single letter we elevate the highest souls that descended there; every letter that is said elevates another soul and another soul.

Fifty years ago, all of Jerusalem would wake up for chatzot; it was an unbreakable rule. Now people have become weak, and it is hard for them to wake up at chatzot every night, but the problem is that they also weaken the other person who does want to wake up for chatzot! And this is the tragedy! Are you weak? Keep quiet! Sit on the side! Let your sons wake up for chatzot! Let your students wake up for chatzot! Do not tell anyone that you are weak and cannot wake up at midnight.

Building the New Day and Sweetening the Judgments

In truth, waking up for chatzot is what builds the new day; it is what renews a person! And the earlier a person starts his day, starting at the point of chatzot and continuing onward into the morning in prayer, word by word, letter by letter, with songs and melodies, that is how he builds the stature of the new day, and saves the people of Israel from all harsh decrees.

A person does not know what he is doing! What he accomplishes through the service of chatzot! When a person says Tikkun Chatzot word by word with tears, sitting on the floor, placing ashes on his head - taking a piece of paper, lighting it, and placing the ashes on his head - he immediately ascends to the sefirah of Binah (Understanding), and these ashes sweeten all the judgments for him. It is forbidden to give up on Tikkun Chatzot! It is forbidden to give up on a single letter of Tikkun Chatzot! Because the Shechinah (Divine Presence) hides within the letters of Tikkun Chatzot. Whoever merits to say Tikkun Chatzot word by word, letter by letter, will merit to be the husband of the Shechinah (Divine Presence).

Rebbe Nachman says in Torah 149:

"At midnight I will rise to give thanks to You... Chatzot is as capable as a pidyon (redemption)..."

Chatzot acts like a pidyon nefesh (redemption of the soul)!! Chatzot redeems everything! Through chatzot, a person performs a pidyon for himself! Waking up for chatzot is the most important service of all services! Any person who merits to wake up for chatzot will merit to rectify everything; he will merit to emerge from all straits and all troubles.

Crying Over the Destruction of the Holy Temple

If a person knew what the Holy Temple was, he would cry and mourn every night at chatzot. But almost no one misses it! Almost no one needs the Holy Temple! Everyone has a cake at home, he has food, he has drinks at home, why does he need the Holy Temple? Baruch Hashem, everyone feels good until 120!

But there are those who miss the Holy Temple, as is told about R' Nachman Schuster, who was a simple Jew who spent a period of time in Uman and saw how they prayed with enthusiasm, how they said Tikkun Chatzot with tears. And when he returned, he began to say Tikkun Chatzot and cry tears over the Holy Temple. Everyone laughed at him because they saw that he did not know how to say the words, saying half-words. They approached him and said to him, "What are you doing saying Tikkun Chatzot – first learn the Aleph-Bet..." R' Nachman answered them: "You do not miss the Holy Temple; you are Torah scholars, geniuses, tzaddikim, you do not need to say kinot (lamentations), you do not need to say Tikkun Chatzot, but I am a simple shoemaker, I miss the Holy Temple".

At that moment, R' Mordechai Sokolov and R' Shlomo Gavriel, who were tremendous geniuses, approached him and asked him, "Where did you get this heart?" He told them, "I got it in Uman." They said to him, "If so, we are also traveling there," and thus they merited to draw close to Breslov - through a simple Jew who cried during Tikkun Chatzot.

R' Shimshon of Ostropoli saw in a dream that his place in the Garden of Eden would be next to R' Heschel of Krakow, who was then a rabbi in Lublin, a great Rosh Yeshiva, and the Chief Dayan in Krakow. But this did not appeal to R' Shimshon; he was very worried: I will be next to some rabbi? What will become of me? Perhaps this is a rabbi who is attached to this world? With a lot of money, rich, with a beautiful house – if so, this is a punishment! Perhaps prayers are needed to annul this decree! And therefore he decided to travel to him and test him.

R' Shimshon disguised himself as a destitute pauper, knocked on the door, and asked, "Is it possible to stay here for a few days?" What was R' Shimshon doing there?! What was he looking for there?! He wanted to check if the Rabbi of Lublin cried at midnight. One day he heard crying from a certain room, he drew closer and heard terrible weeping, he opened the door and caught the Rabbi of Lublin with a river of tears sitting on the floor and crying over the Destruction. R' Shimshon said: "Baruch Hashem, I now know that I will rest in peace on my bed."

The Roar of Chatzot: Subduing the Enemies of Israel

The nations, from then until today, seek to annihilate the people of Israel, and there are constantly harsh decrees, and there is no counsel and no understanding to be saved from them except through chatzot. We need the roars of midnight! As it is written:

"He shall roar mightily over His habitation"

When one says the words "He shall roar mightily" (sha'og yish'ag) at chatzot, it casts fear upon all the nations of the world! Upon all the wicked so that they will not do us any harm! There are 370,000 lions in Heaven, and those who say Tikkun Chatzot awaken the lions above. There are such roars in Heaven that even the greatest wicked person can no longer do anything; from these roars, all the wicked tremble out of sheer fear, with every single roar a tremendous fear falls upon everyone.

When we hear that Jews are killed, God forbid, we must immediately cry out! If a Jew is severely injured, we must say a few chapters of Tehillim (Psalms); perhaps we will succeed in reviving him. Every Jew is a soul from the Throne of Glory; from every Jew, 600,000 can emerge! Why should a Jew lose his life? And over this, one must cry every day, and especially at midnight, and the main thing is to know: It is my sins that caused this! I am the one who makes a joke out of everything! Making a joke out of the service of prayer, making a joke out of the service of waking for chatzot.

When a person wakes up at midnight, through this he can cut off all the enemies, all the terrorists in the world; he just needs to wake up! He just needs to wake up and say Tikkun Chatzot! There is no need for sermons! There is no need for speeches! There is no need for wars! There is no need to shoot even a single arrow! One only needs to wake up at midnight, and through this, all the enemies fall and are cut off.

Participating in the Weeping of Rachel Imenu

A person must know:

"Rachel weeps for her children"

If Mother Rachel cries at chatzot, then one must wake up at chatzot and cry together with the Mother! One must participate in her weeping! Mother cries over the 6 million who were killed in the Holocaust, Mother cries over all those killed every day! Mother cries over the souls that they should return in teshuvah (repentance). How can one know that Mother Rachel is crying at midnight and do other things at this time?! Rachel is the holy Shechinah (Divine Presence)! Is it not fitting for you to participate with Rachel? Is it not fitting for you to participate in her weeping?

A person needs to have a drop of a Jewish heart, a drop of feeling. To say Tikkun Chatzot, to feel the weeping of Rachel, to feel the sorrow of all the generations, of all those killed. We have a Mother who can accomplish everything; Rachel can do everything, everything is in her hands, she is alive and enduring, she can take us out of the exile in this very second, at this very moment! She just wants to see who is crying with her.

At midnight everyone cries, the whole world cries, the stars cry, the constellations cry, everyone cries with Rachel, with the Shechinah (Divine Presence). It is told about R' Zusha of Anipoli that in his old age he saw that he was already weak and could not wake up at midnight, and therefore he announced that he would no longer come to the synagogue, and yet at the hour of chatzot they saw him in the synagogue again. They asked him, "Why did you come, you said you were weak?" He told them, "The old woman is crying, what can I do, the old woman is crying, Rachel is crying, her tears do not let me sleep."

And when we give strength to the Shechinah (Divine Presence), crying with the holy Shechinah (Divine Presence), crying together with Rachel Imenu, she will give us everything! She will guard us all day! Rachel rules over the whole world, over all the treasures; she just wants to see who is crying with her, she just wants to see who participates in her sorrow.

The Fourth Prayer That Rectifies Everything

The student of the Vilna Gaon says: There are four prayers corresponding to four drops that descend every day from the Garden of Eden. And how does one receive those drops from the Garden of Eden? When does a person merit to receive the drops of the Garden of Eden? One drop is received through the Shacharit prayer, one at Minchah, and another drop at Maariv. If a person merits to pray the three prayers with intention, slowly, word by word, then he merits to receive the three drops from the Garden of Eden, he merits to feel the taste of the Garden of Eden. And the fourth drop of the Garden of Eden is received only through midnight (chatzot laylah).

Rabbi Avraham ben Rabbi Nachman says: There are not only three prayers a day! Rather, there are four prayers a day! People are mistaken, people think that the fourth prayer, which is chatzot laylah, is meant only for a few people who have insomnia, it is only for a few people who cannot sleep at night, who have a hard time falling asleep. Midnight is not an invention of a few crazy people! Moshe Rabbeinu said:

"About midnight I will go out into the midst of Egypt"

David HaMelech said:

"At midnight I will rise to give thanks to You"

All the tzaddikim established that there are four prayers a day! They all established that there is also the prayer of chatzot! Midnight is as important as Shacharit, Minchah, and Maariv! A person thinks, "From midnight I am exempt!" Who exempted you? Did our Sages not wake up for chatzot?! David HaMelech? The Patriarchs? Moshe Rabbeinu? Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai? They all woke up for chatzot!!

All those who merit to wake up at midnight, or in the early morning watch, or at the latest at dawn, they merit miracles and wonders! They merit to annul all the harsh decrees! To sweeten all the judgments! Like Avraham Avinu who defeated the four kings, by what power did he defeat them? Rather, he defeated the four kings by the power of midnight! The miracle was at midnight! As it is written:

"And he divided himself against them by night... and he smote them, and pursued them"

Because all miracles are performed through midnight.