The Secret of Mesirus Nefesh: How the Souls of the Holy Ones Bring Torah Down to the World
Class No. 96 | Monday Morning, Parashas Matos-Masei, 23 Tammuz 5757 - At the Yeshiva in the Old City
Moshe Rabbeinu gave up his life and the revelation of new Torah teachings in order to avenge the vengeance of the Jewish people against Midian. The holy Zohar reveals that the souls of those martyred for the sanctification of Hashem's Name, similar to Miriam's Well, are the conduit through which novel Torah insights and spiritual awareness descend to the world. Only when their blood is avenged is new Torah revealed, bringing the rebuilding of the Holy Temple closer.
The Greatness of Avenging Jewish Blood
The greatest thing of all, even greater than disseminating Torah and greater than anything else in the world, is to avenge the vengeance of the Jewish people and to redeem their spilled blood. When Hashem commanded Moshe Rabbeinu regarding the war against Midian, He told him:
"Avenge the vengeance of the Children of Israel from the Midianites; afterward you shall be gathered to your people."
The Midrash states that Moshe Rabbeinu could have lived for many more years. The verse made his passing dependent on the vengeance against Midian, meaning that if he had delayed the vengeance, he would have prolonged his life. However, Moshe understood that the true intention was that it is better to depart from the world and redeem the disgrace of the Jewish people than to continue living. Redeeming the blood of the Jewish people is more important than Moshe's own life, and even more important than the new Torah teachings he would impart to them in the future.
The True Satisfaction of the Creator
Moshe Rabbeinu said in his heart: Truly, this vengeance is greater than my own life, and therefore I am ready to perform this mitzvah immediately. Seemingly, one must ask: Is there anything greater than the life of Moshe? After all, Moshe brings down new Torah for us from Heaven every single day, ascending from level to level, and every day his Torah becomes higher and deeper!
But Hashem told Moshe: If you want to bring Me true satisfaction, that satisfaction is to avenge the vengeance of the Children of Israel from the Midianites. This brings Me more satisfaction than your life. Immediately, Moshe Rabbeinu arose and said: Would I delay the vengeance against Midian just so that I may live?
All the spiritual work that Moshe Rabbeinu could have accomplished over another hundred or two hundred years is considered as nothing compared to this single minute in which he avenged the vengeance of the Jewish people. No amount of longevity can compare to the moment of avenging the Jewish people, feeling the sorrow of the nation and the pain of the unborn generations that could have descended from those whose lives were cut short. The foremost priority is to redeem the blood and exact vengeance from those who caused it.
Miriam's Well and the Secret of Attaining Divine Awareness
The holy Zohar (page 107) explains the depth of this matter. These souls, who perished for the sanctification of Hashem's Name, are the ones in whose merit the entire Jewish people live and from whom they draw spiritual sustenance. In fact, these souls channel all spirituality into the world, exactly like Miriam's Well.
Through the bitterness and mesirus nefesh (self-sacrifice) of Miriam, she channeled all the novel Torah insights and all the attainments of Divine awareness to the Jewish people. The moment Miriam passed away from the world, these attainments of Divine awareness also disappeared. Therefore, a person must search for Miriam's Well every single day, to be connected to it and to know that everything is in its merit. All the novel Torah insights that are revealed until the end of all generations come in the merit of Miriam's Well.
This is also the secret of the Sea of Galilee (Kinneret), where Miriam's Well is hidden. Rabbi Chaim Vital drank from Miriam's Well, and what he absorbed in a year and a half, people have not been able to comprehend for four hundred years.
The Souls of "Bereishis" and the Delay of Novel Torah Insights
The holy souls who sacrificed their lives are called the souls of "Bereishis" (the very beginning). These souls refuse to enter the Garden of Eden until their blood is redeemed, until those murderers and the ones who sent them are uprooted from the world.
These souls are the conduit that channels all novel Torah insights. Just as Moshe Rabbeinu needed Miriam in order to channel his insights through her, so too, Moshe Rabbeinu channels all his novel insights through these souls who sacrifice their lives for the sanctification of Hashem's Name. Through them, all novel Torah insights descend to the world.
As long as these souls refuse to enter the Garden of Eden because their blood has not yet been redeemed, Moshe Rabbeinu also cannot bring down novel Torah insights. His Torah must pass through Miriam and through those who die for the sanctification of Hashem's Name.
The Redemption of Spiritual Awareness and the Rebuilding of the Holy Temple
The entire world exists only for the sake of those tzaddikim, the souls of "Bereishis" who represent the concept of "last in action, first in thought," such as Rabbi Akiva and his colleagues who sacrificed their lives. When we see how we survive despite everything we go through, it is only in the merit of those pure and holy souls who continually give their lives for the sanctification of Hashem's Name, upon whom the world stands.
Therefore, the holy Zohar explains that when one sees a terrible tragedy, just as we pray that there should be no more such tragedies, so too must we pray the prayer for Hashem's vengeance:
"O God of vengeance, Hashem, O God of vengeance, appear!"
From this vengeance, true knowledge (Da'as) is drawn down for all generations. Moshe Rabbeinu imparts this knowledge through these souls, and he cannot impart it until they reach their root and their resting place. When they reach their resting place—then the redemption of knowledge occurs. Then a new Torah is revealed, and everyone receives the new advice and pathways through which the Beis HaMikdash (Holy Temple) will be built, speedily in our days, Amen.
Part 2 of 2 — Lesson No. 96
All parts: Part 1 | Part 2 (current)