The Secret of Absolute Nullification: From Lofty Attainments to Humility and Faith

Lesson No. 38 | Tuesday and Wednesday, Parshas Ki Savo, 17-18 Elul 5755

This lesson explains how studying the secrets of the Torah and the practice of Hisbodedus (secluded prayer) must lead a person to humility and lowliness. Through a comparison between Moshe Rabbeinu (Moses our Teacher) and Nadav and Avihu, it is revealed that the pinnacle of spiritual attainment is not pride, but absolute nullification that brings about fearless faith in Hashem alone.

The Obligation to Protest Peacefully

A woman must know that if her husband is doing something improper, she has an obligation to protest his actions. She does not have to protest at that exact moment or second, but rather she must seek the right way to do so—such as speaking to his Rav or a friend. If she fails to do this, she may bear his punishment and sit with him in Gehenna (Hell). As the days pass and he continues on his path, the situation only worsens.

However, in order not to ruin shalom bayis (marital harmony), and so that she will not be considered a brazen woman or arouse his vengeance, she must look for wise methods: through a Rav, through a friend, by writing a letter, or by weeping before him. If the wife of that holy martyr who was killed had protested to her husband, she would not have been killed and her husband would not have been burned, even though dying al kiddush Hashem (sanctifying God's Name) like the Ten Martyrs is the greatest thing in the world. But there are lofty spiritual levels in which we have no comprehension whatsoever.

Accepting Hashem's Will with Love

We discussed this regarding Menashe, who killed Yeshayahu (Isaiah) the Prophet. The first time, Yeshayahu uttered the Ineffable Name of Hashem and was swallowed inside a cedar tree to be saved. But the second time, he said nothing. He understood that until now he had used the Ineffable Name, but this is not the way. The true path is through prayers and tears, and if that does not work—to accept Hashem's will with love.

One should not try to appease Hashem or force a salvation by using Holy Names and Kabbalistic formulas. We study Kabbalah in order to know the secrets of the Torah, to become renewed, and to be ignited with enthusiasm for it, not to forcefully change Hashem's will.

The Secret of Hisbodedus and the Intentions of the Name Havayah

A person must enter through two gates, and this is the secret of Hisbodedus (secluded prayer), through which he can merit to become a prophet. The holy Zohar explains the Talmudic statement:

"A wise man is greater than a prophet."

Prophecy belongs to the external realm, whereas wisdom belongs to the internal realm, to the mind. A prophet can reach up to the Divine attribute of Tiferes (Beauty/Harmony), but a wise man reaches all the way to the Sefirah of Chochmah d'Zeir Anpin (the Wisdom of the Lesser Countenance, a high Kabbalistic level of Divine revelation).

When a person engages in Hisbodedus, he must direct his intentions to the Name Havayah (the Tetragrammaton). The holy Arizal and the student of the Ramban explain how to visualize the Name. If a person visualizes the Name Havayah with its expanded letters (Yud, Hei, Vav, Hei), he ascends to the World of Atzilus (Emanation). There are different colors in this spiritual attainment: if he sees the Name in black, it is a sign that he is in the World of Asiyah (Action). If in white—he is in the World of Beriah (Creation). But if he merits to see it in sparkling, interwoven hues, it is a sign that he has ascended to the World of Atzilus. When a person is in the World of Atzilus, no harm can befall him.

The Work of Nullification: The Difference Between Moshe and Nadav and Avihu

The Sefer Chareidim brings down that an eis ratzon (time of Divine favor) is when a person goes to a special place, far away from people, and lifts his eyes to the Heavens, to the Unique King who is the Cause of all causes and the Reason for all reasons. When a person turns his face toward his God, Hashem also turns His face toward him, and together they cleave to one another. This was the practice of holy pious ones like Rabbi Yosef Sagis and Rabbi Yitzchak of Akko. The Mesillas Yesharim (Chapter 15) writes that the most precious and difficult of all spiritual labors is the work of Hisbodedus, and the author of Chovos HaLevavos also emphasizes that the essence of spiritual work is to go out to the deserts and mountains, and there to engage in Hisbodedus with Hashem.

However, it is impossible to truly visualize the Name Havayah without working on the trait of bitul (self-nullification). Herein lies the difference between Moshe Rabbeinu and Nadav and Avihu, as the Ruzhiner Rebbe explains. Nadav and Avihu worked every day to be "more than yesterday," to ascend from level to level. This was their mistake. In contrast, the spiritual work of Moshe Rabbeinu, who was the humblest of all men, was to feel every day that he was "less than yesterday" and to view himself as lower than every person.

Regarding the verse:

"With this (b'zos) shall Aharon come into the Holy"

The Ruzhiner Rebbe explains that Hashem revealed to Aharon the reason for the passing of his sons. They thought the goal was to ascend spiritual levels, but a person's true work is to be completely nullified to Hashem. When a person works on self-nullification, he has no fear whatsoever.

Shaking Off Pride After the Lesson

A person can listen to a deep Torah lesson, study from books of Kabbalah and Chassidus like Etz Chaim and Tikkunei Zohar, and walk away full of pride as if he is an "entire library." This pride brings troubles upon the Jewish people. The Gemara relates:

"When the Rabbis would stand up from before Rav Huna, they would shake out their cloaks."

The students would shake out their cloaks after Rav Huna's lesson in order to shatter and shake off their pride. Rebbe Nachman of Breslov says (Likutei Moharan, Torah 72) that a true Torah lesson must bring a person to humility, shame, and lowliness. If after the lesson you do not feel humility and lowliness—you heard nothing. Instead of holy shame, you received pride. The pride that rises after a lesson is like a cloud covering the sun; it makes one forget Divine Providence and causes a person to forget that Hashem exists.

The Shame of Fearing Anything Besides Hashem

The goal of all study is to reach faith and trust, to know that "I am Hashem, I have not changed." One who has acquired faith can walk in dangerous places without fearing anything, because he knows that everything else is merely an illusion and only Hashem runs the world.

The author of Chovos HaLevavos tells of a certain pious man who was found sleeping in the heart of the desert, lying on the ground in the terrible heat, in a dangerous place filled with lions, leopards, cheetahs, and snakes. Passersby asked him: "How can you just sleep like this? Why don't you go into a cave or build a pile of stones for shelter? How are you not afraid?" That pious man answered them: "I am ashamed before Hashem. I am ashamed to fear anything else, when I know that He sees me at every single moment."

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