The Esteemed Chassid R' Mota Frank shlit"a

With the help of Hashem.

Eve of Bedikat Chametz and Erev Pesach 5780.

To my brothers and friends, Breslov Chassidim in every place, I address each and every one of you.

There is a teaching from our holy Rebbe in Likutey Moharan, Part II, Torah 53, which we know from R' Levi Yitzchak Bender z"l is traditionally understood to have been 'thrown' to us from the 'burned book.' It is a very deep and lofty teaching. Within this teaching, our holy Rebbe also speaks about the matter of 'On the night of the fourteenth, we search for chametz by the light of a candle.'

Our holy Rebbe reveals there that one must intend, when searching for and burning the chametz, to eradicate the chametz that exists in the heart of each and every one of us—the evil inclination of man's heart which is evil from his youth—that incites him to say about the Torah scholars of this generation, 'this one is worthy, and this one is not worthy.'

Our holy Rebbe reveals there in this teaching that there is a secret called 'chilek libam' (their heart is divided), where 'libam' (their heart) in gematria is 72, which alludes to the seventy-two hidden tzaddikim in the world. It is written in Chazal that there are 36 tzaddikim in Eretz Yisrael and 36 tzaddikim outside of Eretz Yisrael, and the evil inclination of man's heart, which is evil from his youth, causes in the heart of each of us a state of 'chilek libam'—to feel in one's heart that 'this one is worthy and this one is not.' This is the essence of the leaven and the chametz that one must intend to eradicate when searching for the chametz.

• * *

We are now on Erev Pesach of the year 5780, and everyone knows what is happening now in the world. Everyone, in their country, in their city, in their neighborhood, in their home, knows that there is a terrible plague that has already, Heaven forbid, claimed many victims. Heaven forbid, there are many sick among the Children of Israel and throughout the entire world. There is great fear upon many people, and a state of 'isolation' for many. Here, in this teaching, our holy Rebbe reveals to us that at the time we search for and burn the chametz, we must intend to eradicate the evil inclination that incites us to say about Torah scholars, 'this one is worthy and this one is not.'

We know from the early tzaddikim, whose roots are based on the words of the Gemara, the Midrashim of Chazal, the holy Zohar, and the writings of the holy Ari, as well as the holy tzaddik R' Yitzchak Isaac of Komarno in his book 'Adam Yashar'—which has just been reprinted and publicized in light of the spread of the plague—that he writes explicitly at the end of his introduction to this book that the primary spiritual cause for the spread of a plague in the world is because of the degradation shown to Torah scholars, the degradation shown to the tzaddikim and the G-d-fearing.

We all know, as mentioned, about the terrible situation the entire world is currently undergoing due to the spread of the plague, and we all know about the terrible disputes within all of Klal Yisrael. But we, as Breslov Chassidim, must look primarily within ourselves. We must ask ourselves what we can do to rectify the terrible flaw of the chametz and the leaven?

• * *

True, we have not been in Heaven, and we cannot say exactly what the current root cause of the plague is or point explicitly to every single thing. But the tzaddikim have revealed to us that disputes are the root of the entire matter of the spread of a plague. Therefore, certainly, in every Chassidic group, among the Chassidim, the Lithuanians, and the Sephardim, there are disputes, and among everyone, there is a state of disrespect for Torah scholars. Therefore, we must all certainly return in teshuvah for this, each in his own way and in his own place. But we, as Breslov Chassidim, have a duty, as has already been publicized by HaRav R' Pinchas Bunker shlit"a, to distance ourselves from all types of disputes, and I come to strengthen his words and say:

Let us all come together, each within his own four cubits. I am stopping, and I am removing from my environment the leaven and the chametz that incites me and causes me to say about Torah scholars, 'this one is worthy and this one is not.'

Yes, dispute exists, differences of opinion exist, and there can be such and such differences of opinion. But Heaven forbid that these differences of opinion should lead to a state of 'chilek libam,' that it should not lead to a state of dispute in the heart, that it should not lead to a state of hatred, as we have unfortunately seen in recent years what the entire community of Breslov Chassidim has gone through from the holy community of Shuvu Banim, together with their teacher and rabbi, HaRav R' Eliezer Berland shlit"a—may the Merciful One save us. We must know that together with all the existing differences of opinion, even if there are differences of opinion, and even when the differences of opinion have already been publicized, that is it! Enough! I already know that he holds one opinion and he holds another... but from here on, to continue to lower and degrade the dispute to the level of 'this one is worthy and this one is not'—our Rebbe says here in this teaching that this is the matter that must be uprooted and focused upon during the time of searching for and burning the chametz and the leaven.

Let us all awaken and strengthen ourselves, and make every effort from now on, each and every one in his place, together with his opinion, to make every effort—for himself, his wife, his children, and his friends—and to influence one another, to accept upon ourselves, from this day forward, that we are now beginning to eradicate from ourselves the evil inclination of our youth that causes and incites us to say about Torah scholars, 'this one is worthy and this one is not.'

Even if I have a different opinion than the other, and even if I think differently than the other, it is not, Heaven forbid, any excuse to lead us to lashon hara (evil speech), gossip, slander, 'informing,' or 'betrayal,' Heaven forbid. On the contrary, this is the time to uproot this from ourselves.

• * *

And with the help of Hashem Yitbarach, we are all full of hope that when each and every one in his place awakens, awakens in teshuvah, reflects on teshuvah, and regrets everything he has done until now, and accepts upon himself from now on to be different, and to influence all of this also upon his wife, his children, his family, and his friends, and all the environment he can—certainly, the time of the 'Et Ratzon' (time of favor) that we see now in the world will continue to strengthen even more and more. We are all waiting, hoping, and expecting to see with our own eyes what Hashem wants to bring from potential into action through the great and terrible process He is currently performing in the entire world before our eyes.

And with the help of Hashem Yitbarach, we hope, expect, and pray that our 'it'aruta d'letata' (awakening from below), that we make every effort to eradicate the chametz and the leaven that our Rebbe reveals to us here in this teaching (and it is worthwhile for everyone to study this teaching very carefully and then say the prayer in Likutey Tefillot, Part II, Prayer 42, in order to prepare more properly), all this will cause, with the help of Hashem Yitbarach, what our Rebbe says there in the teaching—'On the night of the fourteenth, we search for chametz by the light of a candle'—to awaken the 'light of the eyes,' which is the light of the Holy Temple, about which it is said, 'And My eyes and My heart shall be there all the days.' To awaken the 'daylight' of 'the day of vengeance is in My heart, and the year of My redeemed has come,' and the light of the eyes of King David, Mashiach ben David, will be awakened—for David in gematria is 14—and this will bring, with the help of His blessed Name, the near Geulah with the building of the Holy Temple, speedily in our days.

Your friend,

Baruch Mordechai (Motta) Frank