Parshat Shemot – The Diamond and the Box

Parshat Shemot – from the mouth of the Tzaddik Yesod Olam (the righteous foundation of the world), the holy Gaon and Tzaddik, Rabbi Eliezer Berland shlit"a (may he live long and good days):

"And he led the flock to the far side of the desert" (Exodus 3:1)

"There is a diamond, and the diamond is inside a box. There is one who spends all day refurbishing the box, polishing the box all day, worrying about it. But what will be with the diamond! The main thing is the diamond! The main thing is the soul!"

The Torah tells of Moshe Rabbeinu (Moses our Teacher) who went to shepherd his flock "to the far side of the desert." What is "to the far side of the desert"? Did Moses go to look for better pasture? A more choice pasture? Rabbi Abraham, the son of the Rambam (Maimonides), says—Moses went to search for desert after desert. He was not satisfied with just any desert; he sought a desert that was far from all other deserts, a desert where no one passes, where no person crosses, where no foot treads. Only there could he reach his perfection, to truly cleave to Hashem (God), to know that "there is none besides Him," to know that he has no connection to this world, no connection to anything, and to reach the supreme bitul (nullification of the self).

A person must be stripped of all gashmius (physicality), to know that there is no physicality at all, there is no world at all. This world is a dream, an illusion. The holy Zohar says (in Parshat Shelach)—in the future to come, not a single trace of this world will remain, nothing! Not even a hair's breadth, nothing! No houses! No assets! No problems! No troubles! Nothing will remain of this world! As long as a person still has a memory of this world, he cannot come to his tikkun (rectification), unless they afflict him and refine him from the lusts and illusions of this world until he forgets everything, so that he has no memory of this world! A person cannot enter the World to Come if he has something of the body, something of this world. Because in the World to Come there are no houses, no food, there is nothing; everything is completely different. The body turns into a soul; not a single point will remain of this world.

It is told about Rabbi Shimshon from "The Forest"—who was a Breslov Chassid who served Hashem day and night with great strength and enthusiasm—that he suddenly passed away. He appeared in a dream to Rabbi Avraham Berenyu, the grandson of Rebbe Nachman, and told him the entire order of his histalkus (passing away): "Rebbe Noson came to me and took me to the holy Rebbe [Nachman]. The Rebbe said to me: Who says you are a Breslov Chassid? You were in Uman, you went up to the Tziyun (the grave of the Tzaddik), you had mesirus nefesh (self-sacrifice)? This is all true, but to be a Breslov Chassid is not so simple, it doesn't come easily. I have a notebook, let's check the lists." The Rebbe took the notebook and said... "It's okay, you are recorded in my notebook, you are a Breslov Chassid, but you still have a scent of this world!" As long as a person has some point of this world, some attachment to this world, some scent of physicality, of the lust of the world, he cannot reach his place in Heaven. "Two angels came and took me to the River Dinur—a river of fire—and immersed me... How can I describe the magnitude of the suffering and pain in this immersion? It was beyond all measure, there is no such suffering in the whole world. However, the magnitude of the pleasure after the immersion is also beyond measure. After the immersion, Rebbe Noson returned with me to Rebbe Nachman zt"l (of blessed memory). The Rebbe answered me and said: You still feel like the world; go immerse a second time." Because it is forbidden to have any faith in this world! No connection to the world! No belonging to the world! Until all the scent of the world and all the filth of this world leaves a person, he cannot enter the World to Come. "And Rebbe Noson returned with me to immerse a second time. When I returned to the Rebbe, the Rebbe said to me: Indeed, you have been purified."

We want eternal life. The body is just a box; the body is only a box for the soul. Why did Hashem create a body for us? It is only so that the soul does not ascend above before its time. The soul has nothing to do here in this world; it always wants to return above to its source. It has no connection to this world—eating again, drinking again, it's already fed up! A person must eat, otherwise the soul will flee; the moment he doesn't eat, the soul will depart and return to its source. The soul does not want to be here! 120 years is already the peak for it! It has no more strength! It already asks to leave here, it already wants to go from here. Until 120 years it still holds on, but it only holds on through food; therefore, one must take care of the needs of the body. But truly, the body is only a box for the soul. It is like a diamond inside a box, and there is one who spends all day worrying about the box, refurbishing the box—you polish the box all day, you care for it, that's very nice, but what will be with the diamond! The main thing is the diamond! The main thing is the soul! Refurbish the diamond!! Polish the diamond!! You are a Divine thing! Why are you polishing the box?! For what?! So that it has a shine? You polish it all day, in the end, it won't even have a shine from all the polishing, because nothing will remain of this body, of this box. This box covers something; there is a diamond inside!

Search for the diamond. Every person has two paths, as it is written—"See, I have set before you life and good, and death and evil"... "And you shall choose life." Does one need to tell a person not to choose death? It is written "life... and good... death and evil." Who is a fool and chooses evil? Who chooses death? Rather, it is a sign that here in this world everything is confused, everything is upside down. Death appears as life; physicality and lusts appear to a person as a good life. And life—prayer, Torah, and holiness—appear as death. Therefore, the Torah says: Be careful!! It could be that what you think is life is actually death. Be careful! You could die. "And you shall choose life"—choose Torah, holiness, and purity. Each and every person has long, long battles. There were so many who entered into holiness and the service of Hashem, and there were many who could not deal with the tests, who could not hold on. The moment bad thoughts and lusts come, a person simply breaks; he says, "Maybe this war isn't for me." What, do you have another way?! "And you shall choose life"—there is good and there is evil... there is no middle! There is no such thing as "it's not for me." If you do not choose life, you are choosing death! You can deteriorate! You can leave the Torah, fail in forbidden sights, etc. Therefore, you must choose life.

Because truly, if a person wants to draw close to Hashem, if he only wants to, then "nothing stands in the way of the will." Nothing will stand before the Divine will. Whatever a person wants, he will achieve. As Rebbe Noson brings in Likutey Halachos—that people who wanted to get rich would travel to diamond mines, traveling great distances into jungles, among Indians, into deserts, and most people would be killed on the way. They traveled with mesirus nefesh (self-sacrifice) to earn a kilo of gold, a kilo of diamonds. So for the Holy One, Blessed be He, for holiness, will a person not perform mesirus nefesh?! Learn from the Sitra Achra (the "Other Side" / forces of evil)! See how people exert themselves for the Sitra Achra; people in universities sit through the nights, studying all night, not sleeping for a few things of vanity, of a passing world. So shall we, for the Holy One, Blessed be He, not study Torah? Shall we not exert ourselves?