The Depth of Connection to the Tzaddik: When the Mind is Immersed Only in the Gemara
Lesson No. 85 | 29 Adar II 5757 at Shaarei Torah
A fascinating article from the lesson of Rabbi Eliezer Berland shlit"a
We see a person sitting and learning day and night. Every day he finishes the Book of Tehillim (Psalms) over the course of two hours, learns Gemara (Talmud) for eighteen hours, and sleeps for only four hours. This was the practice of Itchele Otwoczker. Following his immense diligence and enthusiasm, within just one month, by Rosh Chodesh Sivan, the entire yeshiva transformed into Breslov Chassidim.
The Rotten Apple That Sustained the Yeshiva
There were two mashgichim (spiritual supervisors) in the yeshiva at that time. One of them, who was a true tzaddik, said: "The path of Breslov Chassidus is truth. If your yeshiva becomes Breslov, on the contrary, they will have an abundance of yirat shamayim (fear of Heaven) in the merit of this." In contrast, the second mashgiach claimed that Itchele Otwoczker was "the rotten apple that is rotting everyone else," and demanded that he be thrown out of the yeshiva.
He sent his shamash (attendant) to tell Itchele to pack his suitcases and leave. The shamash arrived at the women's section, where Itchele was sitting, and saw him reciting Tehillim with such weeping, with a broken heart, and with such profound dvekut (cleaving to Hashem). The shamash returned to the mashgiach and said: "I cannot! To such a person I should tell to leave? I am incapable."
Ultimately, they threw several other young men out of the yeshiva, among them Moshe and Yisrael Cohen. They said about them that they were "destroying the yeshiva." But the truth is that they were the ones who built and sustained the yeshiva! Immediately after they were thrown out, they traveled to Uman, and this was their miracle. Right on Tisha B'Av, World War I broke out, and the yeshivas were closed.
The Power of a Single Prayer
A person thinks that someone who wakes up for Chatzos (midnight lamentation over the Temple), does Hisbodedus (personal secluded prayer), and recites Tehillim for two hours with fiery enthusiasm – is destroying the yeshiva. But they were the ones who sustained the yeshiva! If they had remained, the World War would have been canceled.
All wars are unnecessary, and with a single prayer through connection to the tzaddik, one can cancel all the wars in the world. The moment one believes in the tzaddik, the war is canceled. However, since they threw the Breslov Chassidim out of the Makova Yeshiva, they thought they were strengthening the yeshiva, but in reality, they destroyed it. Everyone was subsequently killed, may the Merciful One save us, and all the yeshivas were scattered across the entire world.
Becoming the Leader of the Generation in Six Months
What we came to relate here is that Itchele did not walk around declaring, "I am Breslov." He simply sat and learned. They saw a young man who arrived from Uman, a sixteen-year-old boy, and within a month everyone saw what diligence, what depth, and what novel Torah insights he possessed. He was the greatest genius in the yeshiva in the works of the Rishonim and Acharonim (early and later Torah commentators).
Everyone has a good mind; everyone comes from a good family and can lead the world with their intellect. But one must know that this is the goal: to immerse one's head in the Gemara. To begin learning Tractate Bava Metzia, and not to mention a single other word. The mind is solely inside Bava Metzia, from after the Shacharit (morning) prayer until the end of the third study session when going to sleep. Aside from Bava Metzia, he knows nothing else in the world!
When one sits for a period of time and learns a single tractate, becoming thoroughly proficient in it, the mind opens up. One knows all the Rishonim and Acharonim, and knows every Talmudic topic straight and inverted, along with all the different approaches. If a person decides that for six months he is taking it upon himself to learn only Bava Metzia, he can become the Gadol HaDor (leader of the generation). He will know the approaches better than the maggid shiur (lecturer), and will be able to challenge him with difficult questions.
The Tzaddik is the Oral Torah
When people see such a person, the entire yeshiva will want to be like him. Everyone will want to know Bava Metzia straight and inverted with absolute thoroughness. They go down to the dining room, and this one comes down with a Rambam, that one with a Rashba, this one with a Ritva, and that one with a Meiri. People will simply go crazy over the Torah! They sit at the meal and discuss only Bava Metzia.
"The tzaddik is the aspect of the Oral Torah" (Likutey Moharan, Torah 8).
What is Rebbe Nachman? What is the tzaddik? The tzaddik is Bava Metzia, Bava Kamma, Bava Batra! That is the tzaddik! What is happening in the news? These are idle matters that bring about destruction. The tzaddik is only the Gemara.
Now we need to learn Bava Metzia for six months and know it by heart. Everyone needs to see how during this time he reviews the tractate, does an hour of Hisbodedus, and spends all the rest of the time purely reviewing. A person will see that he does not need to sleep and does not need to eat; he just sits next to Bava Metzia with proficiency and depth.
When a person knows one tractate well, such a mind and such an intellect open up for him that afterward he will be able to know the entire Shas (Talmud) by heart. He does not utter a single sound of mundane matters from his mouth. As far as he is concerned, there is no world; everything is a fog. There is nothing in the world - the Rebbe is Bava Metzia, the Rebbe is the Oral Torah, the Rebbe is the letters of the Gemara.
Part 2 of 3 — Lesson No. 85