The Secret of Purification in the River of Fire (Nahar DiNur): The Role of the True Tzaddik Before Rosh Hashanah
Lesson No. 41 | Lessons at the holy gravesite of Rebbe Nachman in Uman, 26 Elul 5755. Tzom Gedaliah 5756.
Approaching Rosh Hashanah, every soul undergoes a process of spiritual purification in "Nahar DiNur" (the River of Fire) through the suffering and obstacles encountered on the way to the tzaddik. This article reveals the secret of the true tzaddik, who serves as a chariot for the Shechinah (Divine Presence), and explains how binding oneself to him elevates one's prayers and draws down the protection of thousands of angels upon a person.
The Kevar River, which the prophet Yechezkel saw, is Nahar DiNur, which flows and emerges from the "Atika Kadisha" (the Holy Ancient One), which is Hashem, as it were. From there flows Nahar DiNur, about which it is said: "A thousand thousands ministered to Him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before Him; the court sat, and the books were opened." When the three books are opened on Rosh Hashanah, all souls must immerse in Nahar DiNur.
All the suffering a person endures on the roads, all the obstacles from home, every lost suitcase, and every difficulty—everything is considered an immersion in Nahar DiNur. Before coming to Rosh Hashanah, each and every person must undergo this immersion to cleanse and wash away all the filth of this world. After all, this entire world is nothing but an illusion; this world does not truly exist at all. Through Nahar DiNur, one escapes the "chizu dehai alma" (the illusion of this world) and completely forgets that a world even exists.
The souls immerse in Nahar DiNur to be purified from their filth in this lowly world. The commentators explain that this refers even to permissible desires—eating, drinking, and sleeping that are technically allowed. The true tzaddik is entirely clean of all this, and when one comes to the true tzaddik who is pure from any permissible desire, one must first immerse in Nahar DiNur. Through this, the souls arrive at Rosh Hashanah pure and clean, completely forgetting the very existence of this world.
The Secret of Immersion by the True Tzaddik
Who immerses these souls? The one appointed over this is the Prince of the Countenance, the angel Metatron. Before a person comes to Rosh Hashanah, he must hand himself over to his hands so that he may immerse him in Nahar DiNur. This angel shares the exact spiritual likeness of the Tzaddik Yesod Olam (the Tzaddik who is the foundation of the world).
The tzaddik merited that the angel Metatron is spiritually imbued within him, and he alone immerses and prepares us to come to Rosh Hashanah. All the obstacles and suffering a person endures—it is the tzaddik who sends them to him in order to immerse him in Nahar DiNur before Rosh Hashanah. The true tzaddik embodies the spiritual level of Chanoch, who merited this spiritual impregnation to become Metatron, just as Eliyahu merited to become the angel Sandalphon. Therefore, when one comes to the true tzaddik, it is exactly like coming to the angel Metatron.
A River of Fire and a River of Loving-Kindness
When a person travels to the true tzaddik on a long journey, leaving home at Chatzos (midnight) and arriving in the evening, an eighteen-hour journey—in the merit of these "Chai" (eighteen, which spells "life") hours, he will merit to be alive for eternity. He will merit an illumination from the "Tzaddik Chai Olamin" (the Tzaddik who lives forever), the Tzaddik Yesod Olam within whom the angel is imbued, who has the power to wash us from the filth of this world until we forget it completely.
Nahar DiNur has two aspects: It is a "Nahar" (river) of water, which represents the loving-kindness that purifies from all stains, and it is also "DiNur" (of fire), a fire from the side of Gevurah (strict judgment). This is the secret of the verse, "And I was among the exiles by the Kevar River." What is the Kevar River? The prophet Yechezkel saw the angel Metatron, who is the chariot for Hashem, the central pillar.
Regarding this it is said:
"And He rode upon a cherub, and did fly."
Hashem rides upon a cherub, which represents Metatron. And since the angel is imbued within the tzaddik, the tzaddik himself becomes a chariot for Hashem. As Rashi says: "The Patriarchs themselves are the Chariot." The Patriarchs merited that the angel was imbued within them, and thereby they became a chariot for the Shechinah (Divine Presence).
The Secret of the One Hundred and Eighty Thousand Chariots
The tzaddik encompasses within himself six hundred thousand chariots, for all the souls of Israel are rooted in that tzaddik who merited the spiritual impregnation of the angel. But the tzaddik himself, from the aspect of "Tzaddik Chai Olamin," encompasses eighteen myriads of chariots (180,000 chariots).
This secret is hinted at in the verse:
"The chariots of God are myriads, even thousands upon thousands (Shin'an)."
The Talmud in Tractate Avodah Zarah (3b) expounds: "Do not read 'Shin'an' (thousands), but rather 'She'einan' (that are not)." Out of the twenty thousand chariots ("myriads"), one must subtract the two thousand "that are not," leaving eighteen thousand. These are the eighteen thousand angels that descend with Metatron to receive the Shemoneh Esrei (the eighteen-blessing Amidah prayer).
When a person has proper intention during the Shemoneh Esrei prayer and binds his prayer to the true tzaddik, a thousand angels descend to protect him with every single blessing. All the blessings ascend to the true tzaddik, as the holy Zohar says on the verse: "Blessings are upon the head of the tzaddik." The tzaddik receives all the Shemoneh Esrei prayers, and he is the one who elevates them before Hashem.
Part 1 of 4 — Lesson No. 41