The Secret of the Soul of Eliyahu HaNavi: How to Merit Drawing Down Souls from the Tree of Life
Lesson No. 359 | Thursday night, Parashas Ki Savo, the eve of 15 Elul 5762 - Lesson for the An"n groups, Part 2 (Continued from No. 358)
Eliyahu HaNavi (Elijah the Prophet) merited to ascend to Heaven in a whirlwind with his physical body, but what is the secret hidden within this? Rabbi Berland shlit"a explains the connection between guarding one's eyes and mouth and true shalom bayis (marital harmony), and reveals how seeing the good in others is the key to drawing down lofty souls from the Tree of Life.
Binyamin the tzaddik was without sin, but he did not possess the unique spiritual aspect of Yosef. Yosef HaTzaddik is the ultimate symbol of "shmiras einayim" (guarding the eyes)—he withstood all tests, never opening his eyes to worldly temptations, no matter what happened. However, even though Yosef guarded his eyes, we find that he opened his mouth to speak about his brothers, and for this, he was punished.
Chazal (our Sages) teach us that Pinchas, who is Eliyahu HaNavi, descended from the daughters of Putiel—from the seed of Yosef. Why? Because Yosef "chattered" with his evil inclination, there was a need for a tikkun (rectification) of speech. Pinchas came to rectify what Yosef had not yet completed. Yosef's eyes were completely rectified, but his mouth still needed rectification. In order to merit the highest spiritual levels, a person must work on all their senses: the ears, the eyes, the mouth, and especially the mind—so that "the beginning of Your word is truth," meaning the mind must be absolutely pure.
The Secret of Eliyahu's Ascent to Heaven in a Whirlwind
When a person purifies himself, he merits bringing the spiritual aspect of Eliyahu HaNavi into the world. Eliyahu had to perform all these rectifications, and even humble himself. Had he humbled himself before Yiftach HaGiladi, it would not have truly been a humiliation—on the contrary, they would have given him royal honor, hung banners, and danced in his honor. But in his own eyes, it would have seemed like a humiliation, and he needed to overcome this illusion.
The holy Zohar asks: How does one merit a soul like that of Eliyahu, which ultimately merited a chariot of fire and horses of fire? How does one merit that the physical body itself transforms into something spiritual and ascends on high? The answer lies in the concept of being "pure in soul."
"All the souls of the world, since they come directly from the Garden of Eden and are entirely bound in the bond of life, death has no hold over them."
Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai reveals that a person can draw down souls directly from the Tree of Life. Such souls are so pure and holy that the concept of death does not apply to them at all. If one performs the proper tikkun (rectification), death has no dominion over them, just as Eliyahu HaNavi took his physical body upward and transformed it into the "bond of life."
The Darkness is Within Us
How does one merit bringing down such souls, which can elevate the physical body upward? The holy Zohar says: "When the female and male are united"—the matter depends on there being absolutely no machlokes (conflict) in the home.
When a person does not guard his eyes, he will inevitably have conflict in his home. Why? Because not only does he fail to see the light in his home, he actually sees darkness. He sees everything upside down. Every forbidden glance burns his daas (spiritual awareness), leaving him without a spiritual "eye" and without a spiritual "mind." In such a state, he sees only darkness, and he imagines that the darkness is coming from his wife or his surroundings.
He does not see that the darkness is in his own mind. The darkness is within him. He thinks the darkness is his wife, but if a person knew that the darkness was actually himself—then he would know how to do teshuvah (repentance).
The tzaddik cries and knows: "I am the source of the darkness." When a person understands this, he can draw down holy and luminous souls. But when he does not know this, he lives with strictness, resentment, and baseless hatred. This is the great teaching: Everything depends on a genuine will, on joy, and on trust, without any strictness or resentment within the home.
Seeing the Light in Others
Yaakov Avinu, for example, merited to see everything, but there was a point where he did not see the light of Leah. The holy Torah describes this as "Leah was hated"—not actual hatred, Heaven forbid, but rather that he did not see her true virtue and hidden light. From the failure to see the light of the other person, all conflicts and destructions grow. A person sees only his own light and not that of his fellow.
The parents of Eliyahu HaNavi merited to bring such a soul down into the world because between them, there was absolutely no seeing of flaws in one another. Neither saw any defect in the other.
A person must never see a flaw in another at all. It must be 'in a single return from both sides'—mutual from both parties.
Sometimes a husband sees the light in his wife, but she does not see it in him, or vice versa. The Satan works very hard to ensure they do not see the light in each other simultaneously. But the secret is to reach a state where both sides see only goodness and holiness in one another. When one merits this, it is possible to draw down souls directly from the bond of life, souls that possess "extraordinary endurance"—that live eternally with the physical body, and ascend to Heaven in a whirlwind.
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