The Secret of Dust and Ashes: How Humiliations Elevate a Person to the Root of Creation

Lesson No. 14 | Friday, Parashas Bamidbar, 26 Iyar 5755 - At a Bris

When a person merits humility and lowliness, and is willing to accept humiliations until he feels like...

Rebbe Nachman says that if a person diminishes and hides himself in humility and lowliness, transforming himself into the aspect of "Ayin" (nothingness), then Hashem reveals Himself to him. As long as a person holds onto pride and his burning fire, Hashem departs from him. But the moment a person transforms himself into the aspect of "Lo" (nothing), Hashem says: "I will show him" – I will show him who I am and reveal Myself to him face to face. Whoever is nothing and zero can see Hashem face to face.

Parashas Sotah: Immense Reward from Humiliation

This week we read in the Torah portion about the Sotah (suspected adulteress). The Gemara in Tractate Sotah presents an immense wonder: A person who behaves improperly is supposed to receive a punishment, yet here we see a woman who receives an incomprehensible reward specifically through her humiliation. This refers to a woman who acted with a lack of modesty and spoke with a strange man after her husband warned her and expressed his jealousy. She is indeed a kosher and pure woman who did not actually sin, but because she did not listen to her husband's voice, she is taken to the Beis HaMikdash (Holy Temple).

There, she is subjected to the greatest humiliations in the world. All of Jerusalem is brought to look at her, she is stood in the Azarah (Temple courtyard) for all to see, and she is made to drink the bitter waters into which dust from the floor of the Mishkan (Tabernacle) was placed.

The Sfas Emes asks: After all, this woman went through a series of terrible suffering and shame; they simply made her into "dust and ashes." What is her reward for drinking the dust and withstanding all these humiliations? The Torah says that she merits to have a son like Avraham Avinu.

Reaching the Level of Avraham Avinu

Avraham Avinu testified about himself:

"And I am but dust and ashes."

Because this woman accepted the insult and turned herself into dust and ashes, she merits a son who will be in the aspect of Avraham Avinu. A person who accepts humiliations, even if he deserves them because of a mistake he made, and through this becomes an "absolute zero" – he merits to receive supernal intellect (mochin) like that of Avraham Avinu.

With every humiliation a person absorbs, he does not know what supernal intellect he can receive in its merit. He could work for a million years and not achieve what he receives from a single humiliation! And if he does not deserve the humiliation at all – he can reach even more exalted levels, literally the aspect of Avraham Avinu.

Ascending to the Root of Creation

Who was Avraham Avinu? Avraham is the root of creation. The Sages expound on the verse:

"These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created (behibar'am)" – [the letters of behibar'am spell] b'Avraham (for Avraham).

Hashem created the entire world in the merit of Avraham Avinu. The Midrash in Yalkut Shimoni says that the world was also created in the merit of Yaakov and Yisrael, because every true tzaddik who reaches absolute nullification becomes Hashem's partner in creation.

When that Sotah woman stands humiliated before the eyes of all of Jerusalem and drinks the dust from beneath the Throne of Glory (the dust with which Hashem created the world), she ascends to the root of her soul. From the overwhelming shame of being stared at every second, she ascends to the very root of creation and becomes like Avraham Avinu. At that moment, the entire world stands in her merit, and she sweetens all the harsh judgments from upon the Jewish people.

The Power of One Who Becomes "Ayin"

When a person reaches such nullification and becomes dust and ashes, he turns into an entirely new creation. He receives the power to perform miracles, heal the sick, and protect the entire world.

The Midrash relates regarding the era of Avraham Avinu:

"Even ships sailing on the Great Sea were saved in the merit of Avraham."

During the time of Avraham Avinu, there was no disaster in the world. Not a single ship sank in the sea, no person died from illness, and all the barren women in the world were blessed with children. The Gemara explains that even ships carrying libation wine (used for idolatry) were saved, because an abundance of goods leads to lower prices globally, thus benefiting all of humanity. Why did all this happen? Because Avraham merited the letter Hei of "behibar'am" (when they were created), the letter with which the world was created. He sanctified the breath of his mouth and reached absolute nullification.

This is exactly our role in Hisbodedus. The entire purpose of Hisbodedus is only to become "Ayin" (nothingness). Not to ask for prophetic visions out of pride and think, "I am the most important of all," but to recognize our own nothingness. When a person emerges from Hisbodedus knowing that he is nothing and zero, he can sweeten harsh judgments, rectify his surroundings, and protect the entire world.

Part 2 of 3 — Lesson No. 14

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