The Depth of Emunah in the Letters: Gathering Roses in the Field of Speech
Lesson No. 75 | Wednesday, Parashas Miketz, 1 Teves 5757
An article explaining how the difficulty in concentrating on holy speech stems from a lack of emunah (faith), and how every letter is a spiritual flower. When a person slows down the pace of their speech, the letters themselves come to life and beg him not to part from their beauty.
The Emunah Behind the Speech
The inability to focus on the letters of holy speech is a sign of a deficiency in emunah (faith). Rebbe Nachman of Breslov teaches in Torah 155 (Likutey Moharan, Part I) that sadness, laziness, and heaviness stem from a lack of faith. "If he had perfect faith that Hashem stands over him and hears every single word that comes out of his mouth, he certainly would not have sadness, laziness, and heaviness, and he would pray properly." When a person fails to speak with intention, it testifies to a lack in his faith.
In Torah 62, it is explained that everyone must sharpen their intellect, and the spiritual refinement of food is accomplished through faith. Through eating in holiness alone, a person can bring people back in teshuvah (repentance) and create a unification between the Holy One, Blessed be He, and His Shechinah (Divine Presence) face to face. Thus we find that Boaz said to Ruth: "Come here and eat of the bread" — specifically at mealtime, through eating, drawing close is achieved. Similarly, "And Yehudah approached him" represents the drawing close of one king to another. However, to ensure that the food does not lead a person to sin, it must be completely refined without any mixture of impurity, and this refinement is achieved only through faith.
The truth is that there is a limit to what the human intellect can comprehend. There are questions whose answers cannot be understood in this world, and the resolution will only be revealed in the Future to Come. Therefore, it is said, "Know what to answer a heretic," but in areas where the intellect cannot grasp the answer, one must not rely on the intellect; rather, one must base everything entirely on faith.
Knowing That the Whole Earth is Filled With His Glory
In order to serve Hashem with both inclinations—so that one's heart is whole with Hashem his God and not divided against Him—one needs the wholehearted knowledge that the entire earth is filled with His glory. Hashem stands over him at the moment of speech and listens to him. Whoever feels that he is speaking to Hashem with every single letter will say the letters slowly, calmly, and patiently.
If a person is not enthusiastic and is not meticulous in directing his words, it stems from a lack of intellect and awareness. The inability to say every single word with intention is an aspect of subtle heresy within us. We do not need to look for heresy among the secular people outside; if we rectify our own heresy, there will be no secular people in the world. The concealment of knowledge and the doubts that the evil inclination casts upon the heart to bring a person down to evil are what cause a person to fail to say every letter and word properly.
Gathering Roses in the Field
The ultimate goal is for a person to understand that every letter is greater than the entire world. This world is absolute nothingness and does not exist at all compared to the perfection of the letters.
"And when a person stands to pray and speaks the words of prayer, he is gathering blossoms and flowers, and every word is a beautiful rose. He walks through a field of beautiful flowers, gathering them one by one, and makes them into a single bouquet."
Every letter is a flower. A person gathers many beautiful and lovely bouquets, from letter to letter, and joins them into speech. One must not give up on a single letter, from "Mah Tovu" all the way to "Hashem Echad." Everything must be said calmly, slowly, gathering more and more—from the blessing of Avos (Forefathers) to Gevuros (Divine Might), and from Gevuros to Kedushas (Holiness). According to the letters a person utters, the wisdom of the Torah is revealed to him throughout the day.
When the Letters Begin to Speak
When speech emerges, it emerges from the soul. The person becomes a "living soul, a speaking spirit." He must fulfill the directive, "Let your ears hear what comes out of your mouth." When a person says the words, the speech itself begs and pleads with the soul. The word speaks to the person!
A person begins to recite a blessing, and the letter Beis of the word "Baruch" says to him: "Why are you running? Why are you rushing?" There is a person who says the entire blessing in two seconds. Instead, say it slowly. Take ten seconds instead of two. What happened? These extra seconds are entire worlds! The entire purpose of expanding our intellect is solely so that we can speak to Hashem, because a person without intellect cannot do this.
The letters literally pray to the person. The letter Beis says: "Say me slowly." The letter Reish says: "Say me slowly." The letters cry out from within the soul: "How can you part from me? Because of the great love between us, the preciousness of my beauty, my radiance, my splendor, and my glory—how can you disconnect yourself from me and move on to the next letter?"
True, you want to manage to finish everything in fifteen minutes, but if you say it slowly, perhaps you will only manage a little. So instead of fifteen minutes, dedicate half an hour, and then an hour, and then two hours. Do not rush and do not look for excuses. If you say the words slowly, everything will work out on its own, and the letters will ask: "Do not forget me wherever you go, and do not part from me."
Part 1 of 2 — Lesson No. 75
All parts: Part 1 (current) | Part 2