The Secret of the Flaming Sword Which Turned Every Way and the Search for the True Tzaddik

Lesson No. 2060 | * Yahrtzeit (anniversary of passing) of Rebbe Nachman at Shuvu Banim 5751 - (Clear) "Regarding Drawing Close to the Tzaddik" Rosh Hashanah (from Ofir) - up to half of side B

After the sin of the Tree of Knowledge, man lost the ability to clearly discern who the true tzaddik is, and he is liable to undergo many reincarnations in his search. The only way to break through the \

The Flaming Sword Which Turned Every Way and Spiritual Confusion

It is written in the book Mei HaShiloach regarding the verse stated after the sin of Adam HaRishon (the First Man):

"Thorns and thistles (dardar) shall it sprout for you."

What is "dardar" (thistle)? The word is composed of two times the letter Dalet and two times the letter Reish, which equals the gematria (numerical value) of the word "Tzaddik" (204). In other words, "dar dar" hints at two tzaddikim. After man sinned with the Tree of Knowledge, the "flaming sword which turned every way" was set in place. From that moment on, a person can no longer easily distinguish between a true tzaddik and a tzaddik who is not true—between a tzaddik who pursues honor and a tzaddik who flees from honor.

For example, in the dispute of Korach and his congregation, they argued against Moshe Rabbeinu: "Why do you exalt yourselves over the congregation of Hashem?" To the naked eye, it appeared that Moshe was the one pursuing honor, while Korach was seeking democracy, truth, justice, and equal distribution. When Moshe proposed the test of the incense, where everyone would be burned and only one would remain alive, Korach agreed. A regular person cannot see Korach's inner thoughts; outwardly, it seemed that Korach was demonstrating mesiras nefesh (self-sacrifice) and was willing to be burned with the rest of Israel out of humility and a hatred of arrogance. This is exactly the flaming sword which turned every way, which confuses a person's mind.

Hundreds of Reincarnations in the Search for Truth

Rabbi Nathan of Breslov says that a person is liable to undergo hundreds of reincarnations until they reveal to him who the true tzaddik of the generation is. Everything a person does without drawing close to the true tzaddik lacks true inner value.

The Gemara expounds upon the verse:

"Rejoice, young man, in your youth, and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth... but know that for all these things God will bring you into judgment."

The Gemara explains that this verse is speaking about the study of Torah. The question arises: Why should a person who learns Torah be punished? The answer is that a person can learn Torah and pray exceptionally well, yet think that he himself is the tzaddik. He enjoys the Torah, experiences tranquility and peace of mind, and does not know that there is a hidden tzaddik who is channeling all these spiritual illuminations to him. You are using a crown that is not yours, without knowing who is truly bestowing this Torah and joy upon you.

The Secret of the Hundred Reincarnations of the Head of the Sanhedrin

In the book Midrash Rivash, an awesome story is brought down from the holy Baal Shem Tov zy"a. The Baal Shem Tov told of a man who passed away, who had undergone no less than a hundred reincarnations. In his first incarnation, during the days of the First Temple, he was the head of the Sanhedrin—a man on such a high spiritual level that he saw angels. However, on one occasion, when Zechariah the Prophet rebuked the people, it did not find favor in his eyes, and he slapped the prophet. Following this slap, a riot broke out that led to the murder of Zechariah on Yom Kippur that fell on Shabbos.

Since that sin, his soul descended to this world a hundred times. In every incarnation, he was the Av Beis Din (head of the rabbinical court) in a different city, always considered a tzaddik, and always ended his life with an unnatural death at the hands of highway robbers who murdered him on the roads. Only in the hundredth incarnation, after he cried out to Hashem from the depths of his heart, was it revealed to him in a vision who he truly was and what his tikkun (rectification) was. The soul already felt the exhaustion from so many graves and tombstones. He informed his students that he had to be killed one last time to complete his tikkun, and he requested that they write his story on his tombstone.

From here we learn just how blind a person is to his own spiritual state. Who knows what reincarnations we have been through? Perhaps we were from the congregation of Korach? The soul feels the sorrow and cries out to break through the flaming sword which turned every way, which guards the path to the Tree of Life.

Rivers of Tears: The Key to Revealing the Truth

How does one merit to pass through the flaming sword which turned every way, which is filled with thoughts and doubts regarding the tzaddik? Rabbi Nathan explains that until a person sheds rivers of tears, they do not reveal to him who the true tzaddik is.

So too was it with the Tanna'im (Mishnaic sages). The Babylonian Talmud was not revealed to them until they poured out tears like rivers, in the secret of the verse, "By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat and also wept." There were many Tanna'im, but only those who cried rivers of tears merited to have their halachic rulings established in the Talmud.

The students of the Baal Shem Tov, as well, would not approach the study of Gemara before crying for hours. Only after they had shed rivers of tears would they approach their learning, and then Divine visions would open up for them.

Washing the Spiritual Eyes

It is told of one of the tzaddikim who told his father that he wanted to see Eliyahu HaNavi (Elijah the Prophet). His father answered him in Yiddish: "M'darf vashn di oign" – one must wash the eyes. The tzaddik testified about himself: "I cried for two hours before the Seder night, and I merited to see Eliyahu HaNavi."

Our eyes are covered with screens and impurities as a result of blemishes of the eyes (improper sights). When a person cries, the tears wash his spiritual eyes. Through the tears, all the poison leaves the blood, the person receives pure and clean blood, and merits to see everything through a luminous lens.

Before the sin of the Tree of Knowledge, Adam HaRishon (the First Man) saw from one end of the world to the other, and angels served him. After the sin, the Divine intellect departed from him. Today, the only way to draw down the Divine intellect anew and merit seeing Divine visions is through drawing close to true tzaddikim, hours of Hisbodedus, Chatzos, and tremendous weeping.

The Journey to Uman: Finding the Tree of Life

In every generation, there is a tzaddik who is the aspect of the "Tree of Life," who can save us from all harsh decrees and calamities, and grant his followers eternal life. However, since man ate from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, he is confused at every moment. For every action, he has a thousand thoughts and doubts, and he is torn to pieces inside.

When we prepare to travel to the tzaddik, we must know that the main miracles in the journey to Uman are spiritual – to merit guarding the eyes and the holiness of the covenant. Even if a person is in the lowest place, the true tzaddik has simple and wondrous advice for him. But in order to merit believing in the tzaddik and finding the right advice, we must cry without stopping, under the blanket and in the fields, until Hashem enlightens our eyes and reveals to us the path of the Tree of Life.

Part 2 of 4 — Lesson No. 2060

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