The Path to the Inner Diamond | Parshat Shemot from the Teachings of Rabbi

This world is full of pursuits after materialism, honor, and fleeting pleasure. Yet, within all this rushing, there is an inner diamond waiting to be revealed. The words of our teacher, Rav Berland shlit"a, focus on a deep understanding of the meaning of life, the connection between the body and the soul, and the need to rise above the physical world in order to find our true soul.

What is the path to achieving the correct tikkun (rectification)?

Is our soul ready to ascend?

These are the holy words of our teacher, the Gaon and Tzaddik Rav Eliezer Berland shlit"a:

"And he led the flock to the far side of the wilderness"

"There is a diamond inside a box, and there is someone who spends all day renovating the box, polishing the box all day, worrying about it. But what will become of the diamond! The main thing is the diamond! The main thing is the soul!"

"The Torah tells of Moshe Rabbeinu, who went to graze his flock to the far side of the wilderness. What is 'the far side of the wilderness'? What is 'and he went to the far side of the wilderness'? Did Moshe go to look for good pasture? Better pasture? Rabbi Avraham ben HaRambam says - Moshe went to look for a wilderness beyond a wilderness. He was not satisfied with just any wilderness; he sought a wilderness that was far from all other wildernesses, a wilderness where no one passes, where no person travels, where no foot treads. Only there could he reach his perfection, to cleave to Hashem in truth, to know that there is nothing else besides Him, to know that he has no connection to this world, no connection to anything, and to reach the ultimate nullification."

"A person must be stripped of all physicality, to know that there is no physicality, there is no world at all; this world is a dream, it is an illusion. The holy Zohar says (in Parshat Shelach) - in the future to come, no trace of this world will remain, nothing! Not even a hair's breadth, nothing! No houses! No assets! No problems! No troubles! Nothing will remain of this world! As long as a person still has a memory of this world, he cannot come to his tikkun (rectification), unless they afflict him and purify him from the desires and illusions of this world, until he forgets everything, so that he has no trace of this world! A person cannot enter the World to Come if he has anything of the body, anything of this world. Because in the World to Come, there are no houses, no food, nothing; everything is completely different. The body becomes the soul; not a single point of this world will remain."

"It is told of R' Shimshon of 'The Forest' - who was a Breslov chassid who served Hashem day and night with great strength and enthusiasm, that he suddenly passed away. He came in a dream to R' Avraham Beraniu, the grandson of Rebbe Nachman, and told him the whole order of his passing: 'R' Natan came to me and took me to the holy Rebbe. The Rebbe said to me - Who says you are a Breslov chassid? You were in Uman, you went up to the tziyun, you had self-sacrifice? That is all true, but to be a Breslov chassid is not so simple, it does not come easily. I have a ledger, let us check the lists. The Rebbe took the ledger and said, "It is okay, you are registered in my ledger, you are a Breslov chassid, but you still have a scent of this world!"'"

"As long as a person has some point of this world, some connection to this world, some scent of physicality, of the desire of the world, he cannot reach his place in Heaven. 'Two angels came and took me to the River of Fire – the river of flame, and they immersed me. What can I say of the magnitude of the suffering and pain that were in this immersion? They were immeasurable, there is no such suffering in the whole world. However, the magnitude of the pleasure that is after the immersion is also immeasurable. After the immersion, R' Natan returned with me to the Rebbe z"l. The Rebbe answered me and said, "They still feel the world of this world in you, go immerse a second time." Because it is forbidden for there to be any belief in this world here! No connection to the world! No belonging to the world! Until a person removes all the scent of the world, all the filth of this world, he will not be able to enter the World to Come. 'And R' Natan returned with me to immerse a second time. When I returned to the Rebbe, the Rebbe said to me: Indeed, you are purified.'"

"We want eternal life. The body is only a box; the body is only a box for the soul. Why did Hashem create a body for us? It is only so that the soul does not ascend above before its time. The soul has nothing to do here in this world; it always wants to return above to its source. It has no connection to this world - to eat again, to drink again, it is already tiresome! A person must eat because otherwise the soul will flee; the moment he does not eat, the soul will depart and return to its source."

"The soul does not want to be here! 120 years is already the peak for it! It has no more strength! It is already asking to leave here, it already wants to leave here. Until 120 years, it still holds on, but it only holds on through food, therefore one must care for the needs of the body. But in truth, the body is only a box for the soul. It is like having a diamond inside a box, and there is someone who spends all day worrying about the box, renovating the box - you polish the box all day, worrying about it, that is very nice, but what will become of the diamond! The main thing is the diamond! The main thing is the soul! Renovate the diamond!! Polish the diamond!! You are a Divine thing! Why are you polishing the box?! For what!? So that it will have a shine? You polish it all day, in the end, it will not even have a shine from all the polishing, because nothing will remain of this body, of this box. This box covers something; there is a diamond inside!"

"Search for the diamond. Every person has two paths, as it is written - 'See, I have set before you life and good, and death and evil'... 'Therefore choose life.' Do we need to tell a person not to choose death? It is written 'life... and good... death and evil.' Who is a fool and chooses evil? Who chooses death? Rather, it is a sign that here in this world everything is confused, everything is reversed. Death seems like life; physicality and desires seem to a person like a good life, and life - prayer, Torah, and holiness - seem like death. Therefore, the Torah says be careful!! It could be that what you think is life - is actually death. Be careful! You could die. 'Therefore choose life' - choose Torah, holiness, and purity."

"Everyone has long, long wars. There were so many who entered into holiness and the service of Hashem, and there were many who could not cope with the trials, could not hold on. The moment bad thoughts come, desires, a person simply breaks; he says perhaps this war is not for me. What, do you have another way?! 'Therefore choose life' - there is good and there is evil... there is no middle! There is no such thing as 'this is not for me.' If you do not choose life, you are choosing death! You can deteriorate! You can leave the Torah, fall into forbidden sights, etc. Therefore, you must choose life."

"Because in truth, if a person wants to draw close to Hashem, if he only wants to, then there is nothing that stands before the will. There is nothing that will stand before the Divine will. Whatever a person wants, he will attain, as R' Natan brings in Likutey Halachot - that people who wanted to get rich would travel to diamond mines, travel to distances, into jungles, among Indians, into deserts, and most people would die on the roads. They traveled with self-sacrifice to earn a kilo of gold, a kilo of diamonds. So, for Hashem, for holiness, will a person not have self-sacrifice!? Learn from the Sitra Achra! See how people exert themselves in the Sitra Achra; people in universities sit at night, study all night, do not sleep for a few things of vanity, of a fleeting world. So, for Hashem, will we not study Torah? Will we not exert ourselves?"