The Secret of Entering Gan Eden Alive: The Power of Mesirus Nefesh

Lesson No. 235 | Cassette No. 235 Wednesday, 20 Adar II 5760, Gathering of the Nanmach Group of Breslov Chassidim. Side A

A profound discourse explaining how Eliezer the servant of Avraham, Batya the daughter of Pharaoh, and Serach the daughter of Asher merited to enter Gan Eden (the Garden of Eden) while still alive. Through their stories, the secret is revealed: when a person completely dedicates their soul with mesirus nefesh (self-sacrifice) for the sake of the tzaddik and the Jewish people, they strip away their physicality and merit eternal life.

Eliezer, the servant of Avraham, could have easily found excuses to avoid completing his mission. Rivkah's family did not want to let her go, and he could have told Avraham, "I was there, but they refused," returning home with the ulterior motive that Avraham would then take Eliezer's own daughter for Yitzchak. But he did not do this; instead, he made every possible effort to succeed.

The Ben Ish Chai explains that Eliezer used all sorts of tactics and intimidation to make them agree to give him Rivkah. He told them, "Look, Besuel died tonight, and soon all of you will die! Do you think only Besuel died? Soon you will all die." They immediately became terrified and agreed. Previously, they had said:

"The matter has come forth from Hashem."

What is the meaning of "The matter has come forth from Hashem"? The Talmud in Tractate Moed Katan (18b) cites Rav Yehudah in the name of Shmuel, stating that every day a Bas Kol (Heavenly voice) emerges and declares: "The daughter of so-and-so is destined for so-and-so," so that a person will always know that this is their true shidduch (marriage match). Eliezer opened his ears and heard this Heavenly voice, and thus he knew with absolute certainty that this was the right match.

Finding a Diamond in the Muck

Eliezer had a million excuses he could have given Avraham Avinu as to why it was impossible to take her. He could have said that Besuel died and they needed to sit shiva (the seven days of mourning), or that they requested, "Let the maiden remain with us for a year or ten months." At every step, he had a billion excuses to explain why the mission could not be accomplished, thereby giving Avraham an ultimatum and backing him into a corner to take his own daughter.

But instead, he fulfilled the mission with complete mesirus nefesh (self-sacrifice). He set up signs and searched for a way to discover such a girl in a haystack. He sought to uncover a holy and pure pin, a diamond pin, among a million impure ones, within the muck and a pool of sewage. He employed every possible tactic he could find. In the merit of all this self-sacrifice, he merited to enter Gan Eden with his physical body.

The Stripping of Physicality of Batya the Daughter of Pharaoh

The next figure who merited this was Batya, the daughter of Pharaoh. Out of all the ten names that Moshe Rabbeinu had, the name chosen to call him for all generations is the name bestowed upon him by Batya, as it is written:

"For I drew him from the water."

David HaMelech prayed for this, saying: "He sent from on high, He took me; He drew me out of many waters." This was David's prayer, and this is what Batya merited with Moshe. These matters are brought down in Tractate Kallah (Chapter Three). There, it also recounts the immense caution of Yaakov Avinu, who did not even want to give a kiss lest it be mixed with impurity, Heaven forbid, from some demonic force or promiscuous woman, and out of great fear, he refrained from doing so. And in that very same chapter, the immense holiness of Batya, the daughter of Pharaoh, is recounted.

At that moment, Batya reached a state of hispashtus hagashmiyus (stripping away of physicality). She was a princess, yet she agreed to sacrifice her life with mesirus nefesh, even if they were to catch and kill her, just to save Moshe. She said, "This is the redeemer of Israel." The holy Arizal and the Midrash HaGadol explain regarding the verse, "She rises while it is still night," that Batya wandered along the banks of the Nile for months. She knew three and a third days before Moshe was born that he was destined to be born, and the moment he was born, she knew that they would now throw him in.

She wandered during the twilight of the morning and the evening, between the suns and between dawn and sunrise—the times when they would throw the babies into the river—hoping to discover Moshe's basket before some gentile would find him and raise him.

Life for Life

The entire existence of the Jewish people is in her merit. Were it not for Batya the daughter of Pharaoh, there would be no Moshe Rabbeinu. She completely stripped away her physical body to perform this deed, and expelled from herself all the drops of the Sitra Achra (the Other Side, forces of impurity).

Since she brought salvation and life to Israel—for through Moshe the Jewish people left Egypt, received the Torah, the Holy Temple was built, and the Jewish people live forever—everything is credited to her merit. Therefore, measure for measure: just as she brought life to the world and prolonged the lives of Israel, so too she merited eternal life and entered Gan Eden while still alive.

Serach the Daughter of Asher: Sacrificing Everything for the Tzaddik

The third figure is Serach, the daughter of Asher. She was the one who told Yaakov Avinu that Yosef was alive. Everyone was afraid to tell this to Yaakov; they feared that if Yaakov discovered they had deceived him for 22 years with the blood-stained tunic and the goat, and that it was all just a charade and nonsense, he would be strict with them and judge them harshly.

They knew that a single moment of strict judgment from Yaakov—if he were to merely cast his gaze upon them—would turn them into a pile of bones. There was a terrible fear to tell him the truth that Yosef was alive. But Serach said, "Come what may, I must declare that the tzaddik is alive!"

When a person sacrifices themselves for the tzaddik, they merit eternal life. In the merit of this immense self-sacrifice, where she was willing to risk her life facing Yaakov's strict judgment, Serach bat Asher also merited eternal life.

Part 1 of 3 — Lesson No. 235

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