Rebbe Nachman Arrived in Meron on Tisha B’Av and Screamed

“FOR THE TZADDIK, IRON COMBS ARE THE GREATEST PLEASURE”

THE DAILY CHIZZUK OF MOREINU HARAV ELIEZER BERLAND SHLIT”A, WEDNESDAY, 3 AV 5784

THE ENTIRE WORLD HEARD THE TEN COMMANDMENTS.  IT WAS IN SEVENTY LANGUAGES.  EVEN YITRO REPENTED.

It is written in Likutey Moharan Lesson 11 that when Yitro repented, the entire world repented, because he was the head of the Popes.

It is written in Zohar Shemot that Yitro was the Chief Pope.  He knew all the idolatries.  Because every idolatry has one day of the year that it heals, because Hashem wanted to mislead all the nations, to punish them, so He made it so that one day in the year, the idolatry heals.

There are 35 types of idolatry, and Yitro knew which idolatry heals on which day.  Yitro knew that it was all falsehood, like Avraham Avinu, who emerged from the fiery furnace.  Then Nimrod gave him Eliezer [according to Targum Yonatan (Bereishit 14:14), Eliezer was Nimrod’s son].

The Zohar [Parashat Behar] says that when Avraham was saved from the furnace, the entire world repented.  [If] a person emerges alive from a fiery furnace, everyone repents.  Even Avraham’s mother, Amatlai bat Karnebo, the most wicked, and she repented.  She saw that Avraham emerged from the fiery furnace and said, “There is a God in the world.”

A person conquers the fire.  A person can emerge from the fire, because a person can conquer the fire.  All the generations repented and entered the Garden of Eden because they saw that a person can emerge from the fire alive -- only Avraham emerged despondent.

Everyone was joyful.  They said, “We revealed a new God, the true God,” but Avraham came out despondent, broken.  Avraham said: Why wasn’t I burned?  I wanted to be burned like Nadav and Avihu, who wanted to be burned for the sanctification of God’s Name.  Like Rabbi Akiva, whose “students said to him, ‘Our Teacher, even to this extent?’  He said to them, ‘All my days I was troubled by this verse, “with all your soul”’” (Berachot 61b).

Rabbi Akiva said, “I have been waiting for this moment already for 120 years.”  He was exactly 120 years old on Yom Kippur.  They scraped his flesh with iron combs.  Iron combs are the greatest pleasure for the Tzaddik – “Thus it came to mind before Me” (Menachot 29b).

FOR THE TZADDIK, IRON COMBS ARE THE GREATEST PLEASURE.  TURNUS RUFUS ASKED RABBI AKIVA, “ARE YOU A SORCERER?  WHAT’S GOING ON HERE?”  HE SAID TO HIM, “NO, THIS IS MY GREATEST PLEASURE!  FOR 120 YEARS, I HAVE WAITED FOR THIS MOMENT.  WOULD I RELENT ON IT NOW?”

Rabbi Avraham Elimelech [of Karlin] died for the sanctification of God’s Name.  Many Admorim died for the sanctification of God’s Name; they wanted to be burnt together with everyone.

RABBEINU NACHMAN WAS IS THE LAND OF ISRAEL.  HE ARRIVED HERE ON 1 AV.  ON TISHA B’AV, HE WAS IN MERON, AND HE SCREAMED SUCH SCREAMS THAT THEY WERE HEARD AS FAR AS TZFAT – THE MAIN THING IS THE SCREAMS.

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