Parshat Re'eh - The Power of Rosh Hashanah and Bringing the Light Down

The Secret of Rosh Hashanah and the Journey to the Tzaddik

The Rebbe said: "My Rosh Hashanah supersedes everything. And it was a wonder to me, since my followers believe in me, why shouldn't all the people who draw near to me be careful to all be with me for Rosh Hashanah, no one missing." Why don't they make a proclamation, propaganda, and noise in the world so that everyone will travel for Rosh Hashanah to Uman? No one missing! And we must fight for this with self-sacrifice!

When traveling to the holy and awesome tziyon, where the spirit of Mashiach ben David is hidden and concealed, which is drawn from the Nukva dePardashka (the breath of the nostrils), and which blows upon all those who travel to our holy and awesome Rebbe. When traveling with true teshuvah (repentance), and with true regret, from the depth of the heart, for all that has passed over them throughout the entire year, and all the years, from the day they reached the age of understanding until now. And when returning in true teshuvah (repentance) and regretting with true regret from the depths of the heart, in the aspect of:

"Out of the depths I have called to You, Hashem"

From the deepest depths, from such depths into which the Jewish people have never yet fallen.

Then, even if that person's iniquities have grown over his head, become more numerous than the sand of the seas, and deepened beyond the depths of the ocean, our holy and awesome Rebbe has the power to pull him out by the holy peyot that have not yet departed from him, and to elevate him to the highest of heights. When, on this awesome journey, we accept upon ourselves truly and sincerely not to return to our waywardness, and we accept upon ourselves true guarding of the eyes, and to complete the entire Shas and all the books of our holy Rebbe, then we prepare vessels for our holy and awesome Rebbe, so that he will be able to bestow upon us the lights of the Infinite.

When traveling to our Rebbe, one receives fear of Heaven; our Rebbe said, "I am a treasury of fear of Heaven." From every step taken to travel to our Rebbe, an angel is created; from every step taken for the sake of the tzaddik, one receives awe. Just from the journey alone, one already merits to receive a great light, because our Rebbe is fire; when traveling to our Rebbe, one travels on paths of fire. Our Rebbe is a pillar of fire; our holy Rebbe is a blazing fire for Hashem.

The Power of the Tzaddik to Effect Salvations

Everyone wants to travel to our Rebbe; people travel to our Rebbe with self-sacrifice, leaving everything behind. Everyone in this generation knows that our holy Rebbe is a true tzaddik, because our holy Rebbe had no looking here in this world; he never heard the world, nothing here in the world interested him, and he never saw the world.

The Rebbe said: "I don't see?! What do you think, that I am blind? In truth, I have eyes to see from one end of the world to the other." We are traveling to such a tzaddik who sees from one end of the world to the other, traveling to such a tzaddik who can heal all the illnesses in the world; there is no illness he cannot heal. On Rosh Hashanah, we draw down parnassah (livelihood), we draw down the souls of children, and all the salvations for all of life.

On Rosh Hashanah, everything is accomplished. If a person believes in our Rebbe, believes in Rosh Hashanah, then there is no salvation that cannot be accomplished for him, for his friends, for his wife, and for all generations. If he will only stand at the tziyon and pray truly with seriousness, and not wander around or go strolling, then everything can be accomplished; no gate is closed, and one can merit all salvations for himself and for all of the Jewish people.

The Rebbe says: "My Rosh Hashanah is a great novelty. Hashem knows that this matter is not an inheritance from my forefathers; He just gave it to me as a gift, that I know what Rosh Hashanah is! Not only are you dependent on my Rosh Hashanah, but even the entire world is dependent on my Rosh Hashanah." And whoever comes to me for Rosh Hashanah can receive tikkunim (rectifications) that he absolutely cannot receive throughout the rest of the year. "You have nothing to worry about; eat choice foods and drink sweet drinks, for the joy of Hashem is your strength. I have rectified everything for you on Rosh Hashanah!"

Bringing the Light Down

"The whole wisdom is to bring the light down. So that everyone will feel it. The spouse, the children, the neighbors, the father-in-law, and the mother-in-law." A person must know that whatever he receives, he can give. You connected to something higher, you merited to feel something supernal; now you need to bring it down to yourself, below, to your actions, to your matters, which belong to you.

How you speak with your spouse and how you speak with your children, and how you look at a friend. Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai was so high, the aspect of an angel, but in essence, he was placed inside the earth up to his neck. Rebbe Nachman brought such a high light down to the world, which descends to the lowest places, because no other light can reach there. This is the whole wisdom: to bring the light down.

Free Will is Renewed Every Day

"See, I set before you today a blessing and a curse" (Deuteronomy 11:26)

The Sages of Israel ask: Why does Moshe Rabbeinu use the present tense here – "I set [literally: am giving] before you" – and does not say "I have set [gave] before you"? The Vilna Gaon answers this: The Torah comes here to teach us that the free will given to man to despise evil and choose good exists every day and every hour. As long as the soul is within him, a person stands before the temptations of the evil inclination, and he must struggle against it with tremendous strength all the time.

This reality is expressed in the statement of Hillel the Elder:

"And do not trust in yourself until the day of your death" (Avot 2:5)

Hillel warns us not to rely on past achievements, but rather to observe with maximum vigilance against all the temptations that stand before us day by day. The reality of life is that every day two opposing paths are prepared for us: the path of blessing and the path of curse, and recognizing this reality will help us choose the right path.

The "Sfat Emet" adds: The ability to discern and choose only the "blessing" was established in every Jewish person, and for this we bless every day, "Who gives the rooster understanding." And it seems we can explain "today" - because every day there is a new choice. When a person sins, his free will departs from him, and Hashem in His lovingkindness renews the act of creation every day, and gives a new choice to man every day, in such a way that he can become good anew.

Hints in the Torah: The Answer to the Christian Bishop

"If your brother, the son of your mother, entices you... you shall not consent to him, nor shall you listen to him" (Deuteronomy 13:7-9)

Once, a Christian bishop accosted Rabbi Yehonatan Eybeschutz and said to him: The Sages of Israel claim to establish that every instruction imposed upon the Jews is based on what is written in the Torah, according to the rule brought in the Talmud that there is nothing that is not hinted at in the Torah. According to this, I demand that you point to a verse in the Torah that warns the Jews not to believe in Jesus, the founder of our religion.

Rabbi Yehonatan wrinkled his brow for a brief moment, and answered the bishop on the spot: Indeed, there is such a verse in Parshat "Re'eh" in the book of Deuteronomy, and there it says: "If your brother, the son of your mother, entices you... you shall not consent to him, nor shall you listen to him."

The question is asked: Why did the Torah see fit to emphasize here "your brother, the son of your mother"? Rather, with this special emphasis, the Torah comes to teach us that if an enticer comes who is "the son of your mother" - who will claim in your ears that he has a mother but no father (as the Christians claim about that man) - you must reject his words with both hands.

Giving in Secret: The Story of Shimon the Miser

"If there will be among you a needy person... you shall surely open your hand to him" (Deuteronomy 15:7-8)

During the tenure of Rabbi Yom-Tov Lipmann Heller (author of the "Tosafot Yom Tov" on the Mishnah) in the rabbinate of the Krakow community, a fabulously wealthy man became infamously known there for refraining from giving his share to the charity needs of the local poor, and because of this, he was known in his city by the nickname "Shimon the Miser." At that time, there were two charity wardens in Krakow who distributed large donations to the city's poor every week, and anyone who needed urgent financial help received generous and immediate support from them.

Eventually, the time came for "Shimon the Miser" to pass away from the world. At that time, the members of the Chevra Kadisha found an opportunity to exact retribution from the man for his tight fist regarding the city's charity needs, and they dug his grave at the bottom of the cemetery, close to the fence, in a blatant display of disrespect. Only a few days passed, and the city's poor began knocking on the door of Rabbi Yom-Tov, complaining about the community's charity wardens, who suddenly closed their hands to every needy person, and their financial support had now been reduced immeasurably.

The Rabbi sent for the charity wardens and said to them with a tone of resentment: What did you see fit to change now from your custom of days gone by? The wardens shook their heads in sadness and said: We will tell the honorable Rabbi the whole truth in this matter. As long as "Shimon the Miser" was alive, the man used to donate a large sum of money in secret every Friday afternoon to the charity fund, and because of this, we had enough to give to every needy person who turned to us according to his lack. However, now, after the man has passed away, only a small amount of money remains in the charity fund.

Rabbi Yom-Tov was amazed and moved by the wardens' words about the man, who fulfilled the mitzvah of charity for its own sake all his days, and did not merit gratitude from people for it. When Rabbi Yom-Tov Lipmann Heller passed away, it was found written in his will: "After my long days and years, do not bury me anywhere except next to that holy tzaddik, Rabbi Shimon, of blessed memory."