The Secret of Nullifying the Intellect: Reaching the Ultimate Knowledge of Knowing Nothing
Lesson No. 117 | Sunday, Parashas Vayetzei, 1 Kislev 5758 - Awakening Gathering in Eilat
A profound discourse on the power of true humility and the nullification of the intellect. Through the teachings of King Solomon, Moshe Rabbeinu, and the Spies, it is explained how surrendering one's personal intellect opens the door to immense spiritual attainments, and how Hashem demands that we judge the Jewish people favorably.
A person should not make a single movement or utter a single sound from their mouth without connecting it to prayer and words of holiness. Even Devorah the Prophetess managed to speak and pray in the middle of her song. "Everything we do without prayer breaks and spoils. It is bound to explode." When Mashiach comes, every letter and sound he utters will be accompanied by prayer. As long as we do not act in this way, our deeds are immediately destroyed.
The Wisdom in Knowing That We Know Nothing
The foundation of emunah (faith) in Hashem, may He be blessed, always passes through the tzaddik, who, through his immense humility, attains the humility of Moshe Rabbeinu. Regarding King Solomon, it is said:
"And he was wiser than all men" (Kings I, 5:11)
His greatest praise was his humility. King Solomon testified about himself: "For I am more brutish than any man, and I do not have the understanding of a man" (Proverbs 30:2). His true wisdom was the absolute certainty that he did not yet possess wisdom and understanding. He knew that all the wisdom of this world is "chochmah tata'ah" (lower wisdom), and relative to the ultimate truth, it is absolute nothingness.
However, Moshe Rabbeinu was even more humble. Moshe felt that he did not even possess the awareness of "For I am more brutish than any man," because even saying that is considered a form of wisdom. "Rebbe Nachman says that humility is the ultimate greatness. But if a person thinks he is humble—that is the ultimate arrogance (gadlus)." The humility of Moshe is to feel in all your limbs that you are simply nothing, the aspect of "Mah" (What). When a person attains the two aspects of "Mah" (of Leah and of Rachel), he reaches the secret of "Mah yafis u'mah na'amt" (How beautiful and how pleasant you are), and then everything illuminates for him. He merits immense and new surrounding lights (makifim) of "Rav Tuvcha" (Your abundant goodness), which cannot be attained anywhere else in the world.
The Ultimate Knowledge is Knowing That We Do Not Know
Out of immense humility, the tzaddik lowers himself to all the lowest levels and binds them to Hashem, may He be blessed. True humility means that a person feels like absolute nothingness and knows nothing at all. Rebbe Nachman of Breslov said that Shabbos is the aspect of "I do not know," which is the ultimate knowledge. Rebbe Nachman once swore on Shabbos Nachamu: "I swear that I know nothing at all!" Even on his final journey to Uman, before his passing, he said again during the trip: "Now, once again, I know nothing."
This is also the secret of the Shemoneh Esrei prayer—a person must forget everything. It is told of the Gaon (the Vilna Gaon) that when he reached the verse in the Shema, "And you shall not wander after your hearts and after your eyes" (Numbers 15:39), approximately 2,700 different explanations of the verse entered his mind! However, since he was in the middle of reciting the Shema, he restrained himself with all his might, nullified his intellect, and forgot all those novel insights. Only later, during the Shemoneh Esrei prayer in the blessing of "You graciously endow man with knowledge," did he pray that Hashem would return these insights to him. From this, we learn that there is immense spiritual work in nullifying one's intellect.
The Mistake of the Spies and the Secret of Nullifying the Intellect
The Spies did not attain this spiritual work of nullifying the intellect. Everything depends on humility. The Spies were afraid of losing their positions of leadership upon entering the Land of Israel. But the truth is, had they nullified their intellect to Moshe Rabbeinu and agreed to give up their leadership, they would have received new, vastly higher states of consciousness (mochin).
"At some point, a person must give up everything, and then he receives such new states of consciousness." If the Spies had strengthened themselves with pure emunah (faith) alone and nullified their intellect, they would have merited the holiness of the Land of Israel, elevating and binding everything to Hashem, may He be blessed, and they would have become even greater leaders than before. Moshe Rabbeinu wanted them to elevate themselves even further; they just needed to pass through the stage of absolute self-nullification.
Seeing Only the Good in the Jewish People
The correct perspective on the Jewish people is also revealed through Eliyahu the Prophet, who today attends every Bris Milah (circumcision). When Hashem revealed Himself to him, He asked him:
"What are you doing here, Eliyahu? And he said: I have been very zealous for Hashem, the God of Hosts" (Kings I, 19:9-10)
Hashem was strict with him about this and taught Eliyahu how one must speak about the Jewish people: "That is not how you speak! You should say: The Children of Israel are Your children, the children of Your chosen ones, the children of Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov."
Hashem explained to Eliyahu that the people are not to blame. They are in the category of "tinokos shenishbu" (captured infants, raised without Torah knowledge). The blame lies with a government of the wicked, with Achav and Izevel who corrupt everyone, but Your nation are all tzaddikim. After all, we saw that during the era of King Chizkiyahu, after Achaz had closed the study halls and left not a single Torah scroll in the world, Chizkiyahu planted a sword at the entrance of the study hall, and within ten years, everyone knew the Torah!
Hashem waited three hours for Eliyahu to do hisbodedus (personal prayer) and change his words, to stop accusing and instead say good things about the Jewish people—that they are all tzaddikim and that they will all do teshuvah (repentance) if only a good king would arise. But after three hours, Eliyahu repeated the exact same words and said: "I do not retract." From this, we learn just how much Hashem asks and begs us to nullify our intellect, to see reality with a good eye, and to judge every Jew favorably.
Part 2 of 2 — Lesson No. 117
All parts: Part 1 | Part 2 (current)