The Secret of In-Depth Gemara Study: The Path to Illuminating the Intellect and Liberation from the Yoke of the Nations

Lesson No. 314 | Thursday, the eve of the 18th of Tishrei, the second day of Chol HaMoed Sukkos 5762 - the yahrtzeit (anniversary of passing) of our holy Rebbe

Without mochin (spiritual intellect) and understanding, it is impossible to achieve true joy. The only way to merit the illumination of the intellect is through the in-depth study of Torah and Gemara (Talmud). This study is the true essence of Breslov Chassidus, and it is the only power capable of extracting a person from bad character traits, removing the yoke of the nations of the world from the Jewish people, and bringing the Geulah (Redemption) closer.

Without mochin, there can be no joy. If there is no intellect, there is no joy. A person can jump on the table all day long, and this might help him break his sadness for five minutes, but true joy comes only through the mochin. Only the mochin bring a person to joy.

Our holy and awesome Rebbe Nachman says that through Torah study, all the prayers and requests that we ask and pray for are accepted. If a person does not study Torah, his prayers will not be accepted. People ask: "Why aren't our prayers accepted? We pray all day, recite Tehillim (Psalms), and do Hisbodedus (personal secluded prayer)—why isn't it working?" Rebbe Nachman explains that the main element is missing, and that main element is Torah study.

Due to a lack of Torah study, the grace and importance of the Jewish people have fallen, both in the eyes of the world and in our own eyes. In the past, the grace and importance of the Jewish people were elevated before anyone who needed to see them, both spiritually and physically. But now, due to our many sins, everything has fallen, and grace and importance are found among the nations and the secular.

"Only through the Torah are the grace and importance of the Jewish people elevated, because the Torah is called 'a loving hind and a graceful doe'." All the nations want to destroy the Jewish people because we lack grace. Everyone knows that we brought the Bible and faith in Hashem to the world, yet despite this, we have no grace—because we do not study the Torah, which bestows grace upon those who study it, and through which all prayers are accepted.

Looking at the Intellect Within Everything

Our holy Rebbe Nachman adds that it is not enough merely to study Torah; rather, one must study Torah with intellect. A person can read Tehillim or sit all day with a Gemara and not understand a word he is saying. The Rebbe says that the main thing is the intellect:

"For a Jewish person must always look at the intellect of every thing, and bind himself to the wisdom and intellect that is within every thing, so that the intellect will illuminate for him..." (Likutey Moharan, Torah 1)

King David said: "And we shall bring a heart of wisdom." Wisdom is higher than prophecy; wisdom is rooted in the Sefirah of Tiferes (the Divine attribute of Harmony and Truth), while prophecy is in Netzach and Hod (the Divine attributes of Victory and Splendor). There are endless reasons why people draw close to Rebbe Nachman. One person saw the joy, another found good friends, and a third sought refuge from sadness. It does not matter for what reason you drew close, but once you have drawn close—do not fake it. Throw away your illusory intellect and begin to look at the true intellect that exists within everything.

For a person to be able to do this, he must purify his mind, and then the intellect will illuminate for him. As the Rebbe says in Torah 4, the intellect is a great light. The moment a person sees the wisdom, that alone will illuminate for him what he must do in all his ways. Without intellect, a person asks for ten contradictory pieces of advice and ends up going crazy. But when he has wisdom, the verse "A man's wisdom illuminates his face" is fulfilled within him. This is the aspect of our Patriarch Yaakov, who merited the wisdom that is called "the beginning," and thereby defeated Esav. The intellect is like a sun that illuminates the world.

Breslov Simply Means Studying Gemara

In Torah 3, Rebbe Nachman says that one must simply study Gemara. There are people who think that Breslov is the opposite of Gemara, and they are simply distorting Breslov. Perhaps they ran away from the Gemara to come to Breslov because it was hard for them to study, but when you come to Breslov—you need to study Gemara a hundred times and a million times more!

"Breslov is Gemara. Did you find refuge in Breslov and it saved you? Wonderful! But now return to the Gemara with even greater strength and vigor." Rebbe Nachman gives you encouragement, strengthening, and joy precisely so that you can study Gemara.

Rebbe Nachman says that the tikkun (rectification) for sins is to study the Oral Torah at night. What is the Oral Torah? A person might say it means books of Chassidus or Mussar (ethics), and that is all well and good, but Rebbe Nachman states explicitly: the Oral Torah means Gemara. To simply study Gemara in its literal sense. The intellect and the Gemara are the sun. When you study Gemara, it illuminates all the darkness of the night for you, the darkness in your heart and mind.

"Arise, cry out in the night, at the beginning of the watches; pour out your heart like water before the presence of Hashem."

How will there be a revival of song and joy? Through the night, which represents the Gemara, the Shas (the six orders of the Talmud). Simply to study pages of Shas.

An Elixir of Life and True Humility

The study of Gemara must be lishmah (for its own sake), and through the tzaddik one merits to study lishmah. It is possible to study the entire Shas not for its own sake, just to become a "Rebbe" and to dominate others. But Moshe Rabbeinu (Moses our Teacher) was called so because he was the most humble of all men. The Gemara must bring a person to humility and lowliness of spirit.

As one of the great Roshei Yeshiva (Yeshiva deans) said: "When I see that I understand nothing in the Gemara, neither in the Rashba, nor in the Rambam, nor in the Ketzos HaChoshen—I acquire humility." The Gemara specifically brings one to humility, because the more a person studies, the more he sees how little he understands.

The Torah can be an elixir of life or a potion of death. If a person learns in order to boast, it becomes a potion of death for him. But an elixir of life means that the Gemara teaches him and shows him that every Jew is better than him. "In order to be a simple Jew, one must know the entire Shas (Talmud) and all parts of the Shulchan Aruch, and even then feel: 'I am the lowest of all, every Jew is better than me.'" This is called an elixir of life.

In-Depth Study: Liberation from the Yoke of the Nations

In Torah 101, Rebbe Nachman explains the verse, "For in Yah, Hashem, is the Rock of eternities." The letter Yud symbolizes the intellect of the Torah, and the letter Hei symbolizes studying with breadth (bekius). It is not enough to just read the Gemara with breadth; a person must study for at least four hours in-depth (b'iyun) in order to understand the Gemara with intellect, and then absorb what he reads with breadth.

The difference between the Nation of Israel and the nations of the world is the study of Gemara. "You are called 'Adam' (man), and the idolaters are not called 'Adam'." In 'Adam' there are seventy luminous faces (shiv'im anpin nehirin), and among the nations there are seventy dark faces (shiv'im anpin chashuchin). If a person does not study Gemara, he will remain in darkness. He will try to be happy, he will eat or drink something, but darkness will remain in his heart and mind.

Every nation has its own specific bad trait, such as the lust for money, theft, or murder. When we do not study Gemara in-depth, we fall under the control of those seventy bad traits of the nations, and they draw sustenance (yenikah) from us.

"Whoever casts off the yoke of Torah, they place upon him the yoke of the government and the yoke of worldly matters" (Pirkei Avos 3:5)

What is the "yoke of Torah"? This is in-depth study! Because a person casts off the yoke of in-depth study, the nations of the world rule over us. We see how the nations rule, every day Jewish blood is spilled and we are powerless to save, and it is all because there is a lack of deep Gemara study.

The True Essence of Breslov

Gentlemen, you have all come to Breslov. Some were born here, some arrived from all corners of the land, some saw the wisdom or the joy, and some found a refuge. It is all good, beautiful, and wonderful. But what is Breslov, really?

"Do you want to be liberated from the yoke of the nations? Do you want to bring King Mashiach? This is only through studying Gemara in-depth! This is the will of our holy Rebbe."

Take the children and study Gemara with them in-depth, set up study partnerships (chavrusas). Understand the wisdom of the Torah deeply, study with the Rashba, Ketzos HaChoshen, Rambam, Meiri, Ritva—with all the Rishonim and Acharonim (early and later commentators). This is the true path to illuminate the intellect and merit the Geulah (Redemption).

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