Parshas Matos - The Secret of the Fire Burning in a Jew and Transforming it into Holy Fire

"Everything that comes into the fire, you shall pass through the fire"

Everyone must know that there is a fire within them! And this fire burns within them day and night! As the Zohar says, a Jew is always swaying! A non-Jew can stand straight and upright all day long! But a Jew is something completely different! A Jew cannot sit still! He is burning all day long! He is constantly in motion, searching all day for what to do. Every single day, he searches the ends of the earth for what to accomplish! A non-Jew works for eight hours, then gets drunk for eight hours, sleeps for eight hours, and repeats the cycle. But a Jew, even after learning Torah for eight hours, searches the ends of the earth for what to do next!

Rebbe Nachman says in Torah 156:

"...For just as one became inflamed and burned with passion for a sin or an evil desire, Heaven forbid, which defiled his heart, so too must he become inflamed and let his heart burn for Hashem, blessed be He. Through this, his heart will be purified, as it is written (Numbers 31:23): 'Everything that comes into the fire, you shall pass through the fire...'"

A person who has committed many sins must burn himself in fire! And in what fire must he burn himself? In the fire of holy words! He must speak words that are as hot as fiery coals! Because a person is entirely a blazing fire for Hashem, blessed be He! He is entirely a burning flame! "A constant fire shall burn upon the altar; it shall not be extinguished." He must burn completely for Hashem, blessed be He, so that he has no other burning passion! He must have no burning desire for lusts or sins, Heaven forbid. He must burn for Hashem all day and all night, to the point where he cannot sleep and cannot eat because he is burning so intensely for Hashem.

Transforming the Fire of the Sitra Achra into Holy Fire

All the sins a person has committed throughout his life stem from the fire that comes from above. Why would a Jew commit a sin? How is it even possible for a Jew to sin? After all, a Jew is hewn from the Throne of Glory! A Jew is a portion of God from above! It is inconceivable for a Jew to sin! Rather, the sin comes from the fire that descends from above! There is a fire from above that descends upon a person, and he does not know where to place this fire! He does not know where to channel it! So, he channels this fire, this enthusiasm, and this energy into lusts and sins.

We must transform this fire! We must turn it into holy fire! Into a fire of purity! Into a "constant fire shall burn upon the altar; it shall not be extinguished." One must take all the fire of the Sitra Achra (the Other Side, forces of impurity) and transform it into holy fire! Into a blazing flame! Into the fire of prayer! Into the fire of Torah! Into the fire of Ahavas Yisrael (love for a fellow Jew)! Instead of harming another, instead of stealing from another, instead of mocking another, he must transform the fire into holiness. Then he will attain a tremendous love for others, an endless, immense love for his fellow. He will attain a love for every single Jew, and he will receive the strength to fulfill the will of every single Jew.

With the very same fire he used to cause harm until now, with that same fire he will know how to love every Jew with a soul-deep love. With that same fire, he will seek to help another, to assist another, and his vessel will be transformed into a blazing fire for Hashem, blessed be He. Until now, he did not know where this fire came from! Where this energy came from! Where this strength came from! He thought it was simply the fire of the Sitra Achra, Heaven forbid. Rebbe Nachman came and taught us that this fire is holy and pure at its source! The fire originates from a holy fire, from "its flashes are flashes of fire, the flame of God." Rebbe Nachman came and taught us how to transform it.

The Candle of Ashmedai or a Blazing Fire for Hashem

Moshe Rabbeinu was entirely fire! When Moshe ascended Mount Sinai, the mountain was burning with fire! The entire mountain burned with fire! Because one who is clean from lusts is entirely transformed into holy fire! As the Gemara in Chullin says about Rav and Rebbi, that when they would speak words of Torah, sparks of fire could be seen flying from their mouths! They would see sparks of fire flying from one to the other. A person is alive because of the heat in his body. Why are you alive? Because there is a certain fire descending upon you all the time, there is a fire constantly flowing into you, and you must utilize this fire for holiness! Let everything be fire! Burn like a fire! Utilize this fire for Torah! For prayer! Let your learning be fire!

Do not waste this fire on lusts! Do not waste this fire on nonsense! Do not get excited over foolishness! Channel this fire, this enthusiasm, into the letters of the Gemara! Into the letters of prayer! Start learning Torah with holy fire! Pray and cry out to Hashem with a blazing fire.

Once, they brought a certain student to Rabbi Yonasan Eybeschutz and told him that this student was a prodigy who knew the entire Talmud by heart... He told them, "Take him out! I don't want to see him!" They went and investigated him, and it turned out that this student was actually a priest who had come to the yeshiva to fabricate blood libels! He came to learn Gemara to find all sorts of "proofs" for blood libels against the Jews. They asked Rabbi Yonasan Eybeschutz, "How did you know?" He told them, "I saw that he doesn't sway! I saw that he has no enthusiasm! I saw him sitting in the yeshiva completely straight, not moving, learning with coldness, so I understood that he was a non-Jew."

A person who learns and prays but does not burn for Hashem! He does not burn with fire! He is not a blazing flame! This is all from the Sitra Achra! It is all from the demons! "Why are you sleeping?" Rabbi Avraham Abulafia says that "Ish Nirdam" (a sleeping man) is "Ner Ashmedai" (the candle of Ashmedai, king of demons) — they share the exact same Hebrew letters! Ish Nirdam is the letters of Ner Ashmedai! If you are not burning for Hashem, blessed be He! If you are not burning in Torah and prayer with fire and enthusiasm, you have lit a candle for Ashmedai! If you fall asleep, then you are entirely consumed by lusts! You have lit a candle for Ashmedai! You are completely immersed in Ashmedai! You are among the demons! Among the evil spirits! A sleeping man is the candle of Ashmedai! If you learn Torah and pray while falling asleep, you have lit a candle for Ashmedai.

Sweetening the Severities with Holy Enthusiasm

A person must transcend his entire physical body, all his coarseness, all his lusts, and know once and for all! Why am I here? Why am I in Breslov!? Why did I come to Rebbe Nachman!? Here, there is only one task! To break free from lusts! Lusts are fire! They are Gevuros (spiritual severities)! Transform this fire into holy fire! Fire descends upon you from Heaven all the time!! You are receiving Gevuros all the time! And you must sweeten the Gevuros with Chasadim (loving-kindness)!

Because the Gevuros come with harsh judgments and accusations, and to sweeten these Gevuros, this fire, one must use the Gevuros correctly. You must channel this fire, this enthusiasm, into Torah and prayer! You must channel all this energy and momentum into holiness! An apathetic person who has no fire is nothing! He has accomplished nothing. When you learn Torah, everything must be a blazing flame, everything must be sparks of fire! Fire descends upon you from Heaven all the time! Start burning for Hashem! Go out to the field and cry out! Travel to Hebron! To the Cave of the Patriarchs! Do not fall asleep! If you fall asleep for even one moment! If you sit still for even one moment! Then all the lusts come.

A person must be enthusiastic in prayer, channel his fire into prayer, and sway during prayer. Because if the father is enthusiastic in prayer and sways during prayer, then the child will also be enthusiastic and sway during prayer! The father is the child's role model! In truth, from the age of three, one should already sway with their child! We must accustom our children and great-grandchildren to sway during prayer, not to stand like statues! Like pieces of wood! The Zohar says - a Jew is fire! A Jew is a blazing fire for Hashem, blessed be He! A fire burns within him!

When a person prays, he must sway, he must be enthusiastic! If he does not sway, he is simply not yet a Jew! Because the non-Jews in the mosque also pray, and they also bow, but they sit straight, they do not move, they are not enthusiastic, they do not sway. Rabbi Aharon of Shomrei Emunim writes in his book: "I no longer need this! But in order to accustom my Chassidim, I continue with the movements and the enthusiasm." We must start swaying with the child from a young age, and there is nothing to laugh at! One must take the child to the synagogue on Shabbos and stand next to him! Stand next to him! Even if he slightly disturbs the father's prayer! This is more important than the father's prayer! This child will become a true tzaddik and will bring the complete Geulah (Redemption) speedily in our days, Amen.

The Power of a Tzaddik: He Shall Not Break His Word

"He shall not break his word; according to all that proceeds from his mouth he shall do" (The holy Rashi explains "He shall not break his word": "He shall not make his words profane" - meaning, he shall not desecrate or alter his word).

It is told that the tzaddik Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev was an expert mohel (circumciser). The tzaddik's custom was to perform circumcisions only in the morning, immediately following the Shacharis (morning) prayer. When Rabbi Levi Yitzchak's daughter gave birth to a son, all the chassidim gathered in the morning to participate in the bris (circumcision) of the tzaddik's grandson. However, right after the Shacharis prayer, the tzaddik told his chassidim to wait for him. He entered a private room, closed the door behind him, and remained there for four consecutive hours.

Everyone was astonished. The baby's father and mother were deeply distressed to see the crowd dispersing, leaving only a small minyan (quorum of ten men) behind. After four hours, the tzaddik emerged from the room and, with immense joy, circumcised the baby, naming him Yehuda Leib. The Rav's son-in-law, the baby's father, was very upset at that moment, as he had intended to give his son a different name, but he remained silent out of respect for the tzaddik.

During the seudah (festive meal), the Rav was asked to explain why he had secluded himself in the room for four hours, and why he had taken it upon himself to name the newborn Yehuda Leib. The tzaddik answered them: "When I arrived here this morning, I saw a dark cloud and heard a great commotion within it. Therefore, I immediately ran into the room to hear and see what was happening in Heaven. Indeed, I heard from behind the Heavenly curtain that a Tzaddik Yesod Olam (a tzaddik who is the foundation of the world) had passed away, and his name was Rabbi Yehuda Leib of Apta. At that very moment, groups upon groups of tzaddikim emerged from Gan Eden (Paradise) with drums and dancing to welcome this honorable guest."

"As this entire Heavenly entourage passed by Gehennom (Purgatory), the tzaddik Rabbi Yehuda Leib suddenly left the group escorting him and jumped straight into Gehennom. His escorts cried out, 'Rebbe, what are you doing?' He replied, 'I testify about myself that throughout my life, I fulfilled the mitzvah of pidyon shvuyim (redeeming captives). I also fulfilled the verse, He shall not break his word; according to all that proceeds from his mouth he shall do. Since Hashem promised that anyone who does not break or alter his word will be granted that according to all that proceeds from his mouth he shall do—meaning Hashem will honor and fulfill whatever comes out of that person's mouth, in the aspect of the tzaddik decrees and Hashem fulfills—I am not moving from here until I perform pidyon shvuyim right here in Gehennom!'"

"The tzaddikim went before Hashem and asked Him what to do with Rabbi Yehuda Leib. Hashem told them to open the ledger of pidyon shvuyim to see how many souls Rabbi Yehuda Leib had saved during his lifetime. Since it was found that he had saved two hundred and twenty souls over the course of his life, he was granted permission to elevate 220 souls out of Gehennom with him. What did Rabbi Yehuda Leib do? He descended to the seventh and lowest compartment of Gehennom, where the souls who 'descend and do not ascend' are kept. He pulled out double the amount he was allotted, and as he ascended through each and every compartment, he continued to pull out even more souls."

"The angel appointed over the souls in Gehennom cried out, protesting, 'What are you doing? You have already taken more than double your share!' Rabbi Yehuda Leib replied, 'These are a gift!' He then brought all of those souls straight into Gan Eden." Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev concluded his story: "When I witnessed the tremendous power of this tzaddik, I named my grandson after him, so that he too might merit to achieve greatness in his lifetime..."

Annulment of Vows by a Single Expert

"Moses spoke to the heads of the tribes... If a man makes a vow to Hashem..." (Numbers 30:2)

Rashi explains on this verse why Moses addressed the heads of the tribes specifically regarding the laws of annulling vows, more so than other mitzvos. He explains that this is because "the annulment of vows can be performed by a single expert." As is known, when someone makes a vow, they go to a Torah sage who can annul it for them. A single sage is sufficient, unlike the annulment of a vow before laymen, which requires a tribunal of three people.

Whenever the Maharil Diskin zt"l wanted to illustrate to his students what it means to annul a vow before a "single expert," and why an expert is specifically required, he would share the following story:

When his father, the Gaon Rabbi Binyamin Diskin, served as the Rav of Lomza, a righteous and ascetic man once arrived in the city. This man had completely separated himself from all worldly pursuits. He entered the local synagogue and made a vow that he would never step foot outside its doors for the rest of his life, dedicating himself to studying Torah day and night. This caused great distress to the townspeople, who constantly worried about his health and well-being. They had to bring him food and drink to the synagogue every single day. This was especially difficult on Shabbos, as carrying items through the city was forbidden since there was no eruv (a boundary allowing carrying on Shabbos) in the town.

One day, the Gaon Rabbi Akiva Eiger zt"l arrived in Lomza to participate in a family celebration, and he came to visit the Maharil Diskin's father, the Mara D'Asra (Chief Rabbi of the city). The two great Torah scholars sat together, sharing words of Torah and engaging in the holy, everyday conversation of sages. During their discussion, the Rav told Rabbi Akiva Eiger about this ascetic scholar who sat in the synagogue dedicating his entire life to Torah study, and he explained the severe vow the man had taken.

Hearing this, Rabbi Akiva Eiger said to the Rav, "If there is such a holy Torah scholar in your city, it is only fitting that we go and greet him in the Beis Midrash. I would like the honorable Mara D'Asra to accompany me there." And so they did. They immediately set out toward the Beis Midrash. When the townspeople saw this, they all gathered and followed the great Torah giants toward the study hall.

Upon entering the Beis Midrash, Rabbi Akiva Eiger approached the ascetic scholar and said, "I heard that you are a true Ben Torah (Torah scholar) and I greatly desired to meet you. However, since you cannot leave the Beis Midrash because of your vow, I took the trouble to come here to you." The scholar was deeply distressed by the immense trouble he had caused the leading sages of the generation and the entire town. He cried out, "Woe is me, that I have burdened your honorable Torah eminences!" Rabbi Akiva Eiger gently asked him, "If you had known that your vow would cause such a situation, would you have made it in the first place?" The scholar replied, "Heaven forbid! I certainly would have preferred to run like a deer to greet the honorable Rav!" Immediately, Rabbi Akiva Eiger declared, "It is permitted to you, it is permitted to you, it is permitted to you!" The entire crowd echoed, "It is permitted to you, it is permitted to you, it is permitted to you!" And just like that, his vow was annulled.

The Maharil Diskin concluded: "Come and see how profoundly true the words of our Sages are when they said, 'The annulment of vows can be performed by a single expert!' Imagine what would have happened if Rabbi Akiva Eiger had simply sent a messenger to convince this ascetic to annul his vow. The ascetic surely would have stood his ground, declaring that 'a vow is a vow' and must be kept, insisting that his only desire was to remain separated from this world. But Rabbi Akiva Eiger—that 'single expert'—understood exactly who he was dealing with. Through his indirect and brilliant approach, he led the ascetic to naturally regret and annul his vow, thereby lifting the heavy burden that had fallen upon the residents of Lomza."

Pnei Melech: Connecting to the Truth and the Soul

Any trace of goodness we feel in our hearts comes from stepping outside of ourselves and focusing on something higher—our soul. This is what brings us constant joy, knowing that we can always anchor ourselves to our pure soul. The soul draws its source of strength directly from Hashem. It is literally a "portion of God from above," continually drawing its life-force from Him.

It is not always easy for us to transcend ourselves and think about Hashem constantly. Nevertheless, we can still feel our soul; it is right there inside us. We know that when we experience something deeply difficult or painful, it is usually connected to the soul far more than to physical matters. In those moments, we naturally remember that there are higher realities, that we are connected to elevated spiritual worlds. We remember that we are children of the Jewish people, the eternal nation, and that we are bound to eternity itself.

Only when we elevate ourselves to something higher, when we view all of reality from a different perspective—like taking an aerial photograph where everything looks completely different than it does from our limited ground-level angle—only then can we see the truth. The light is the truth, and the truth illuminates our path. Everything else that makes us feel darkness—our personal biases, our sadness, our pain, our vulnerabilities, our struggles—all of it stems from the fact that it is not the truth. It is merely our one-sided, limited perspective; it is just how things appear to us. But if we elevate ourselves to the truth, we will find that there is only light, not darkness, as it says, "Send Your light and Your truth, they will guide me."

The light is the truth. The light is the joy. The light is the reality where the soul can live, where it is good for it, where it can withstand tests, where it connects to something higher.

Handing over the fool: The pure intention of the tzaddik

Regarding the things he does, sometimes he does things that appear to people as very great wonders, and the world misleads itself regarding the matters he engages in. For everyone misleads themselves, thinking in their minds that he did it for this reason, while another misleads themselves with a different error. For example, regarding his journey to Uman, where everyone fell into a different foolishness and error regarding what his intention was in this (and in truth, his intention was for very high matters, and he certainly did not intend for any personal benefit at all, only for the sake of His blessed Name).

He answered and said, it is very good when the fool is handed over to the world, because everyone fools someone, and that someone is themselves—meaning, they err and fool themselves. But one who guards himself from fooling himself, then he fools the whole world. That is, everyone errs regarding what his true intention was, and he does not need to mislead them at all, because they mislead themselves, as everyone falls into a different error regarding his matters, as mentioned above.

The explanation of this matter is that every person misleads themselves, because there is no one whose intention in all their matters is entirely for the sake of Heaven in perfection, without any ulterior motive; rather, everyone misleads themselves. But one who does all his matters solely for the sake of Heaven, without any ulterior motive or intention for personal benefit, and does not mislead himself at all, then all his matters are very great wonders in the eyes of people. And everyone misleads themselves regarding him, because it is impossible to comprehend his lofty intention. Thus, he has handed over his error to the world because he did not want to mislead himself, and therefore the world errs regarding him. Understand this, because it is impossible to explain it in writing (Chayei Moharan 200).

Thus, from the words of Rebbe Nachman zt"l, a wondrous boast is explained regarding the sheer magnitude of his greatness and spiritual level: that all his matters and actions are entirely for the sake of Heaven, without any ulterior motive or intention for personal benefit, to the point that you will not find an error in his actions and matters even by mistake. And all of this was in absolute perfection, from the day of his birth until his histalkus (passing away). Something similar to this is also found among all the tzaddikim, that the bewilderment and wonders that fall upon them are only because their actions are truly for the sake of Heaven.

On the contrary—the greater their spiritual level and the purer their intention, the further they are from the rest of the Jewish people whose intentions are not as pure. Consequently, more numerous and difficult bewilderments, wonders, and questions fall upon them. This is all due to the very fact that they do not mislead themselves at all to make any movement that is not for His blessed Name. As the story is told about Rabbi Tzvi Hirsh of Zidichov, that once, upon returning home from the Beis Midrash adorned in his tallis and tefillin, he heard a Heavenly voice announcing: "Give honor to the image of the King!" Yet a moment later, it happened that he forgot and moved an object without unifying His blessed Name, and he heard a Heavenly voice announcing: "Woe to so-and-so who has rebelled against his Master" (Sefer Eser Kedushos).

And now, anyone who still misleads himself and does not serve Hashem for the sake of Heaven properly, but rather intends for a little personal benefit—not to mention if his intention is not for Heaven at all, or worse, that he sometimes does actions that are completely against the will of Hashem—his entire tikkun (rectification) is through that tzaddik who does not mislead himself at all, for he is the one who can extract the entire world from their errors.

And this is how Moharnat (Rabbi Nosson of Breslov) learns these words: For this is a general rule and the foundation of the entire Torah, that one must be very careful not to mislead oneself in this world. As Rebbe Nachman zt"l cried out before his histalkus (passing away) and said, "Accept this from me: Do not let yourselves be misled in this world," because the world misleads us completely, etc., as printed in Sichos HaRan (Sicha 51). However, to be saved from the errors of this world, which are exceedingly numerous, almost without measure, it is impossible to be saved from them except by drawing close to the true tzaddik who did not mislead himself in this world even the slightest bit (and as is explained a little from this teaching in the book Chayei Moharan) (Likutey Halachos, Hilchos Shluchin, Halacha 5, Letter 40).

Fortunate are we that we hold this pamphlet in our hands, for through this we are already holding onto him zt"l, and may we merit to add even more, until we completely exit the error of this world, for "Accept this from me—do not let the world mislead you."